{"value":{"id":782880,"askingMemberId":534,"askingMember":null,"house":"Commons","memberHasInterest":false,"dateTabled":"2017-11-02T00:00:00","dateForAnswer":"2017-11-06T00:00:00","uin":"111089","questionText":"To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of his Department's public phone-lines charge members of the public to call.","answeringBodyId":27,"answeringBodyName":"Department for Transport","isWithdrawn":false,"isNamedDay":false,"groupedQuestions":[],"answerIsHolding":false,"answerIsCorrection":false,"answeringMemberId":350,"answeringMember":null,"correctingMemberId":null,"correctingMember":null,"dateAnswered":"2017-11-08T00:00:00","answerText":"<p>The Department, including its Agencies, has 3,187 public phone-lines. The vast majority of these lines are for the general public to make enquiries at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (more than 40 numbers using over 1500 lines) and at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (for example at driving test centres).</p><p> </p><p>Fewer than 1% of those phone lines are free to the caller (via an 0800 number). However, the charges otherwise paid by the caller from a landline will in virtually all cases be at the standard or local rate. Whilst the DVLA publicise two premium rate numbers which the general public can call for translation services, this means that apart from those the Department including its Agencies makes no income from their phone lines for the general public to call.</p><p> </p><p>Charges may be different for a mobile phone depending upon the rate that the relevant network operator imposes, though many people have a free calls allowance as part of their mobile phone package.</p>","originalAnswerText":"","comparableAnswerText":"","dateAnswerCorrected":null,"dateHoldingAnswer":null,"attachmentCount":0,"heading":"Department for Transport: Telephone Services","attachments":[],"groupedQuestionsDates":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Questions/782880","method":"GET"}]}