FOI release

Calls to directory services and 087 and 090 numbers

Published 10 January 2014

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/calls-to-118-087-and-090-numbers/calls-to-directory-services-and-087-and-090-numbers

  • Date requested: 5 April 2013
  • Date responded: 22 April 2013

1. Request

  1. The total number of calls made to 118 numbers over the past 5 years up to and including April 2013. Please could you break this down year by year. Please could a figure, in pounds sterling, for how much these calls cost. Please could this also be broken down by year.
  2. Please could you also provide a figure for the number of calls made to numbers beginning with 0871, 0872, 0873 and 090 over the past 5 years up to and including April 2013. Please could you break this down year by year. Please could a figure, in pounds sterling, for how much these calls cost. Please could this also be broken down by year.
  3. Please could you also provide a figure for the number of calls made to 118 118 over the past 5 years up to and including April 2013. Please could you break this down year by year. Please could a figure, in pounds sterling, for how much these calls cost. Please could this also be broken down by year.
  4. Please could you also provide a figure for the number of calls made to 118 500 over the past 5 years up to and including April 2013. Please could you break this down year by year. Please could a figure, in pounds sterling, for how much these calls cost. Please could this also be broken down by year.
  5. Please could you also provide a figure for the number of calls made to 118 111 over the past 5 years up to and including April 2013. Please could you break this down year by year. Please could a figure, in pounds sterling, for how much these calls cost. Please could this also be broken down by year.

If there is any guidance issued to staff on what numbers they can/cannot call, please can you provide this. Likewise, if there is a list of barred numbers, please could you provide this.

2. Release:

The Department for Education retains 1 year of call logging information so the department is able to provide data covering the period 01/04/12 to 12/04/13. Calls and cost data from DfE landlines is shown below. Data for DfE mobiles is held by the supplier and no logs or itemised call costs are maintained centrally by the department.

  1. Calls to 118xxx numbers - 261, cost - £672.61 ex VAT
  2. Calls to: * 0871 numbers - 3,593, cost - £977.42 ex VAT * 0872 numbers - 60, cost - £16.32 ex VAT * 0873 numbers - 0, cost - £0.00 * 090 numbers - the numbers are barred and attempts to barred numbers are not recorded
  3. Calls to 118118 - 95, cost - £450.10 ex VAT
  4. Calls to 118500 - 35, cost - £115.41 ex VAT
  5. Calls to 118111 - 0, cost - £0.00

Published lists of numbers that DfE staff can/cannot call do not exist, nor does a list of barred numbers, however to be helpful and provide as much information as possible, it can be confirmed that access to numbers is managed by business need.

For example, new or non-standard numbers, usually for special services, are generally barred unless staff make a business case for an exception due to the nature of their work. Examples include translations (123 etc) and non-geographics (08x). 090 premium rate services (PRS) are barred entirely.

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