§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 4 December,Official Report, column 59, how many telephone calls have been received by the Vehicle Inspectorate enforcement group offices reporting smoking diesels; and what estimate he has made of the cost of making this a freephone facility. [8211]
§ Mr. NorrisThe number of phone calls made to the smoky diesel hotline since its launch in 1991 was detailed in my answer of 30 November,Official Report, column 882–83.
Based on the latest figures—11,861 calls between April and October 1995—we estimate that the direct cost of setting up the hotline as a freephone facility and running it for a year would be between £7,500 and £10,500. This excludes the cost of staff to answer and follow up calls.