§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the helplines, or schemes which include a helpline service, for which his Department provides any funding, stating which are(a) independent organisations, (b) run by his Department or agencies of his Department or (c) of another classification; how many calls each received in each of the last five years; and how much money each received from his Department in each of the last five years. [9804]
§ Mr. HowardMy Department funds a number of telephone, inquiry lines which the public can ring for advice. It has not been possible in all cases to attribute costs, but details which are readily available are as follows:
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Calls Funding Helpline Run by Year Number Year £ Immigration and Nationality telephone inquiry bureau Department 1991 5358,000 — — 1992 395,000 — — 1993 436,000 — — 1994 458,000 — — 1995 501,000 — — Nationality Directorate telephone inquiry Department 1991 205,080 — bureau 1992 202,000 — 1993 225,000 — 1994 240,000 — 1995 218,000 6140,000 — Office of the Data Protection Registrar inquiries line NDPB 1990–91 38,000 — — 1991–92 42,000 — — 1992–93 44,000 — — 1993–94 48,000 — — 1994–95 66,000 — — 1Commenced 1 March 1995. The helpline is run by Network Scotland with a grant from the Home Office. 2Commenced 5 December 1994. Excludes additional running costs of £4,000–£5,000 incurred as a one-off basis in the first four and a half months of the service only. 3Includes start-up costs of £8,000. 4Estimated cost for 1995. In previous years separate costs have not been recorded. 5Figures do not include recorded messages. 6Estimated cost for 1995. In previous years separate costs have not been recorded.