§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what telephone call rates for people living within the area served by Kingston Communications are charged when using the Child Support Agency's advice telephone service; what monitoring of these rates is conducted by his Department; and in what circumstances his Department will pay compensation for telephone users that have been charged at a higher rate than for local telephone call service. [38729]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne dated 27 October 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security on the Child Support Agency's telephone advice service.The Agency offers several enquiry and advice lines, and provides customers with a reduced—rate-calls service to its six Centres. All these services are provided by means of the British Telecommunications "Link-Line" facility. The numbers, all prefixed 0345, are charged at the BT local call rate. This applies to all calls no matter who the subscriber is billed by. This means that an 0345 call made in Hull is charged at the same rate as a call from anywhere else within the UK.I understand from Kingston Telecommunications that their local call charge is different to BT's. It may be this disparity that is causing the misunderstanding about the charges made for calls to the Agency from Hull. Although an 0345 call made in Hull costs more than a local call within the Kingston Telecommunications network, it is still cheaper than a direct dialled long distance call from Hull to any of the Agency's Centres.The Agency in conjunction with the Departmental Information Technology Authority constantly monitor the rates and tariffs of our telecommunications suppliers so that the maximum discounts can be achieved for our customers.As with all matters, the Agency will consider a compensation payment where a clear and unambiguous error by the Agency has resulted in a financial loss to a client. Each such case is decided on its own merits.