§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the public information telephone inquiry lines operated by his Department, in each case indicating the costs of establishing, operating, and publicising these lines and the number of calls made to them up until this point; when they were established; and what assessment his Department has made of their effectiveness. [17455]
969W
§ Mr. SoamesMy Department's public inquiry office was established many years ago. Calls are routed to it either via the main switchboard or as a result of inclusion of the contact numbers in various commercial publications. Since 1988, the earliest date for which records are available, an annual average of 41,000 calls have been handled. Although the cost breakdown requested would not be available without disproportionate cost, the staff costs involved are less than £50,000 a year. No recent assessment of the effectiveness of this office has been undertaken.