§ Lord Harris of Greenwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the average cost of handling each call to the cones hotline in the financial years 1993–94 and 70WA 1994–95; and the average cost of follow-up action on those calls.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Viscount Goschen)This is an operational matter for the Highways Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive, Mr. Lawrie Haynes, to write to the noble Lord.
Letter to Lord Harris of Greenwich from the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Lawrie Haynes, dated 3/7/95.
You asked what was the average cost of handling each call to the cones hotline in the financial years 1993–94 and 1994–95, and the average cost of follow-up action on those calls. As this is an operational matter for the Highways Agency, I have been asked to reply.
Separate costs for running the cones hotline are not available for 1993–94, as calls were then routed through the Department of Transport's general enquiry number. During 1994–95, the cones hotline was operated on a dedicated local call rate number at a cost of approximately £5,000. Other running costs are not easily identifiable since they were met within budgets agreed before the hotline was established. Our estimate of the average cost of handling each call in 1994–95 is £2.22. No figures are available for the average cost of follow-up action in 1993–94 and 1994–95.