HC Deb 02 February 1994 vol 236 cc788-9W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is the cost of uniforms worn by staff answering telephones at the charterline offices in Havant, Hampshire.

Mr. David Davis

There is no direct cost to the Citizen's Charter Unit for uniforms worn by staff answering Charterline calls. The Charterline pilot is operated under a service contract by IBM's National Call Management Centre at Havant, and uniforms are provided as an integral part of this service.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much money has been spent on publicising the charterline scheme.

Mr. Davis

A total of £542,010 has been spent on publicising the Charterline scheme.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the pilot charterline scheme's first nine months of operation.

Mr. Davis

In background research more than 92 per cent. of people thought that Charterline should be launched; 84 per cent. of those who use Charterline are happy with the service. We will be reviewing the pilot study at the end of March.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what is his estimate of the cost of extending the charterline scheme to cover the whole of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Davis

It would be possible to extend the Charterline scheme to cover the whole of the United Kingdom at minimal additional cost if the current call rates were repeated across the country. The total cost of running Charterline would depend on operating and advertising costs. The pilot will run until the end of March 1994. At the end of the pilot study we will make decisions about its future, which will include options for extending the service and the costs of doing so.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans there are to extend the charterline scheme to cover the whole of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Davis

Charterline is currently a pilot available to citizens in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. This pilot will run until the end of March 1994. At the end of the pilot study we will make decisions about its future, which will include options for extending the service.