§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the use of freephone and freepost facilities currently being operated by her Department; how much these facilities are costing; for what purposes these facilities are being used; and how much her Department has spent on operating freephone and freepost facilities in each financial year since 1979.
§ Mr. JackWe have not, in the time available and without incurring disproportionate cost, been able to check comprehensively with all our agencies and outstations the actual expenditure in each financial year in the period specified.
In general, the Department has made relatively little use of freephone and freepost facilities.
A freephone service was set up in 1991 to enable members of the public to report incidents where they suspected the use of pesticides posed a serious risk to people, animals and wildlife.
A further freephone line was set up this year as part of MAFF's "food sense" campaign. It will operate from 7 February to 16 March to enable members of the public to order information booklets.
In a rather different category, two freephone numbers have been operating, since 1986 and 1993 respectively, for use by MAFF staff working in our information technology department who need to dial into the Ministry's datacommunications network whilst working away from the office.
The recent cost of these facilities, to date, is: 390W
1990–91 £ 1991–92 £ 1992–93 £ 1993–94 £ Pesticides Incidents line — 565.3 329.1 361.63 Information Technology Department staff lines 3,973.25 6,887.5 9,495.8 8,523.22 Our records indicate that MAFF has only operated one substantial freepost service. This was for a period ending in 1989 to enable members of the public to send for a MAFF booklet on food additives. Exact figures are not readily available, but the total annual cost did not exceed £5,000.