§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will make a statement on the public information telephone inquiry lines operated by her Department, in each case stating 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 her Department has made of their effectiveness. [17461]
§ Mr. ForthA dedicated public inquiry unit was established within the Department's information bureau and library in 1987. With the advent of a new switchboard in 1991 a single number—0171 925 5555—was established to handle public inquiries. In September 1994 a voice processing system with automatic call routing capabilities was added to the telephone line at a cost of £18,477. The unit's annual staffing costs are estimated at £127,000. The telephone number appears on all departmental press releases, in entries in directories and year books and in appropriate departmental publications. No extra costs have been incurred in publicising the number.
It is estimated that 65 per cent. to 70 per cent. of all inquiries are made by telephone. The total number of inquiries handled by the public inquiry unit as a result of telephone calls, letters and personal callers to the 916W Department's inquiry room at its headquarters are as follows:
- 1987: 30,633 (April-December only)
- 1988: 51,468
- 1989: 55,674
- 1990: 49,553
- 1991: 58,103
- 1992: 51,866
- 1993: 51,327
- 1994: 63,974
The introduction of the call routing system has increased the effectiveness of the public inquiry unit by enabling telephone callers to be automatically directed to staff able to handle specific queries or to the publication ordering service.