§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the public information telephone inquiry lines operated by his Department, in each case indicating the costs of 335W 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. [17456]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 3 April 1995]: The information requested is as follows.
Environment Helpline 0800 585 794
The Environmental Helpline is a freephone service which provides up to two hours of free advice to firms on environmental issues affecting their business. Until 1994, it was run by the DTI's Warren Spring Laboratory. Since June 1994, it has been run by the National Environmental Technology Centre (NETCEN) as part of DTI/DOE Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme, for which it is the first point of contact. The figures below for the period 1990–91 to 1993–94 relate to the cost of operating the helpline, excluding any DTI staff involved, and to the number of calls received during this period:
Year Costs (£) Calls 1990–91 2,076 5,052 1991–92 3,311 6,735 1992–93 4,184 6,441 1993–94 2,262 2,962 Since the transfer of the helpline service to NETCEN as part of the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme, the full cost of providing the helpline service, including the provision of a site visit advisory service and the associated staff costs relating to this are available. For 1994/95, a total of 6,322 calls were handled by the helpline service, at a total cost to the Department of £259,793.Business in Europe Hotline (0117 944 4888)
The Business in Europe Hotline superseded the Single Market Helpline in April 1993 and was further streamlined, with consequent cost savings, in May 1994.This Hotline now concentrates on taking orders for free publications, providing names of government contacts for specific areas of legislation and signposting to private sector sources of advice. Cost since the changeover and the number of calls to date are as follows:
Year Costs (£) Calls 1993–94 94,850 30,169 1994–95 126,129 19,986 Innovation Enquiry Line 0800 44 2001
The line provides a single point of contact for those seeking information about the Department's innovation services; it signposts enquirers to other sources of help and advice, and takes orders for the despatch of relevant literature.Costs (excluding staff costs) since inception and the number of calls to date are as follows. The 1994–95 call figures reflects steps taken to discourage irrelevant enquiries.
Year Costs (£) Calls 1991–92 3,700 7,980 1992–93 3,700 7,430 1993–94 5,400 9,584 1994–95 4,1001 4,872 Services for Business Line (0800 500 200)
336WThe Services for Business line (formerly known as the Enterprise Initiative Helpline) provides a signposting and publication-ordering facility across a wide range of the Department's business services. From April 1995 it will be known as the Business Link Hotline. Costs and number of calls to date are as follows:
Year Costs (£) Calls 1987–88 67,000 44,971 1988–89 106,700 43,413 1989–90 163,600 38,496 1990–91 166,400 37,606 1991–92 120,500 26,833 1992–93 124,200 31,009 1993–94 118,000 26,608 1994–95 1112,000 21,513 1 Estimated A Biotechnology Means Business Helpline (0800 432 100) was launched on 22 March 1995 as part of a three-year awareness initiative but it is too early to make an assessment of its effectiveness.These lines provide a valuable and necessary function in enabling the Department to measure and respond to interest generated by its various awareness-raising marketing campaigns and in most instances provide gateways into various DTI best-practice programmes and services.
The costs, call levels and nature of inquiries are under constant assessment and subject to periodic formal review and, where necessary, appropriate steps are taken to improve value for money. Such steps include contracting out, streamlining services, changing service suppliers and screening out inappropriate calls.