Whose bright idea was it to impose a 2ppm Service Charge for Children's Services in Isle of Wight?


Quote:

New phone number for Children’s Services A new telephone number for members of the public to call if they are concerned about a child or need information about children’s services is being launched by the Isle of Wight Council. From Monday 4 November, people should call 0845 650 0097, a 24-hour number dedicated to children’s safeguarding matters. The existing duty number (01983) 814374 will remain in use until Monday 4 November.

And what exactly does whoever made the decision think they've gained or improved?  There's no revenue-share on 0845 numbers so that can't be the reason (which might - just - be understandable in these days of cuts).

I find it unhelpful to talk purely in terms of revenue share. It makes a bit more sense to talk in terms of Service Charge.

Calls to 0845 numbers incur a 2p/min Service Charge. The call recipient uses this to pay for the call handling and call routing costs at their end of the call. This means they get to run the 0845 number free of charge by forcing callers to subsidise the running costs. When this extra cost is incurred by callers in contacting a service that is already financed through taxation it has been dubbed "the Telephone Tax".

As the Service Charge only just covers those running costs, most users of 0845 numbers never see a revenue share payment. Very large users might receive half a penny per minute. The attraction is a number that is free to run. The lie that often accompanies the selling of such a number is that it is cheap to call.

They are probably unaware that calls to 0845 numbers can cost up to 12p/min plus a 16p connection fee from landlines and up to 41p/min from mobiles.

I'll guess they either think the calls are charged at "local rate" or, having seen that BT includes some of these calls within their call plans believe that is what happens on other networks.

Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" with a requirement to declare that 2p/min Service Charge will reveal the true situation with 0845 and other such premium numbers and it will be very a big shock to many.

0845 numbers rarely pay out revenue share and the same is true for some 0843 and 0844 numbers. Those with a Service Charge under about 3p/min also do not pay a revenue share to the called party. Ofcom's unbundled tariffs will show these two types of call to be equivalent, whereas most people would currently, and incorrectly, consider them to be quite different.

A recent NAO report http://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/charges-for-customer-telephone-lines-2/ is highly critical of the usage of such numbers for public services as was the recent Public Accounts Committee enquiry http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/house-of-commons-23934512 which resulted in DWP promising to drop their 0845 numbers in favour of the cheaper 0345 range.

HMRC http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/new-numbers-helplines.htm / http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/new-nums-stamp-taxes.htm / http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/new-tel-numbers.htm and Fife Council http://fifedirect.org.uk/03 lead the way in moving to 03 numbers.

The source newspaper article refers to a partnership with Hampshire County Council.

This page may provide a clue to the answer to the question posed by the OP.

As it's a joint venture between Hampshire County Council and Isle of Wight Council, another excuse that might be offered is they "needed a number that costs the same when dialled from both places". This, of course, ignores the fact that has also been the case for 01 and 02 numbers since 2004 and for 03 numbers since 2007.


Calls from contract mobiles:
01, 02 and 03 inclusive in call plan. 0845 up to 41p/min and not inclusive.
A very small percentage of these callers may pay extra to have inclusive 0845 calls, but this will cease when 084 and 087 calls are unbundled by Ofcom in 2015.

Calls from pay-as-you-go mobiles:
01, 02 and 03 numbers generally cost 5p to 15p/min less than calls to 0845 numbers.
A small number of pay-as-you-go callers may have a calls bolt-on with inclusive 01, 02 and 03 calls. These deals generally do not include 0845 calls.

Calls from landlines (Sky, Virgin Media, etc) on a call plan:
01, 02 and 03 inclusive in call plan. 0845 up to 12p/min (plus 15p connection fee) and not inclusive.
A very small percentage of these callers may also have inclusive 0845 calls, but this will cease when 084 and 087 calls are unbundled by Ofcom in 2015.

Calls from BT landlines on a call plan; calling at a time when the inclusive allowance applies:
01, 02 and 03 inclusive in call plan. 0845 also inclusive in these BT call plans until 084 and 087 call prices are unbundled by Ofcom in 2015.

Calls from BT landlines on a call plan; calling outside of the call plan allowance:
01, 02, 03 charged at an unregulated "geographic rate". 0845 charged at a rate that is regulated and capped by Ofcom and is less than the unregulated "geographic rate" currently charged by BT.
When 084 and 087 call prices are unbundled and the price cap imposed on BT's 084 and 087 call prices is lifted, both happening in 2015, this unusual situation will end.
In the meantime, very few people find themselves in this position, one where they have inclusive calls only at the weekend but are making calls during the week.

Ian G wrote on Oct 20^th, 2013 at 2:35pm:

I find it unhelpful to purely talk in terms of revenue share. It makes a bit more sense to talk in terms of Service Charge.

I totally agree that it is unhelpful to talk about "revenue share" on its own. This is merely referring to what is "taken out" as a direct payment at the receiver's end and neglects the portion of the Service Charge which is retained by the receiver's telephone provider (for provision of services to the receiver).

Ian G wrote on Oct 20^th, 2013 at 2:35pm:

I find it unhelpful to talk purely in terms of revenue share. It makes a bit more sense to talk in terms of Service Charge.

And don't forget the Access Charge which is an even greater rip-off !!!  >:(

When a call is made to an 084 number from a BT landline, the Access Charge is currently zero. With Virgin Media it varies between 2p and 7p/min depending on the actual number called. Mobile networks have an Access Charge for 084 numbers that's often between 15p and 40p/min.

The greater transparency provided by Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" should do much to reduce this exploitation of consumers. In setting and openly declaring an Access Charge for each tariff, non-geographic call prices will be open to much greater scrutiny.

Based on today's pricing, Tesco Mobile would be declaring an Access Charge for 084 numbers around 4p/min and T-Mobile would be declaring an Access Charge of up to 40p/min.

Once the new system is in place, questions might also be asked if a network charges 5p/min for calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers but sets the Access Charge for 084, 087 and 09 numbers at 25p/min.

The most important point to remember is that fundamentally it is the presence of the Service Charge that stops these types of calls being included in call allowances.

loddon wrote on Oct 21^st, 2013 at 1:07pm:

Ian G wrote on Oct 20th, 2013 at 2:35pm: I find it unhelpful to talk purely in terms of revenue share. It makes a bit more sense to talk in terms of Service Charge. And don't forget the Access Charge which is an even greater rip-off !!!  >:(

Each Access Charge is determined by each originating provider, so discussion about it, when talking about a particular user, convolutes the issue. Many abusers of these numbers choose to use this to their advantage.

With a multi-provider system call recipients are responsible for their own charges but not those of the provider originating the call.

There has been a development:
http://www.healthwatchisleofwight.co.uk/resources/iw-countil-response-regarding-change-childrens-services-phone-number

The response from the council trots out the same old "0845 is local rate" (not true), "we don't receive an income" (economical with the truth) and "0845 allows us to route the call to different locations" (true, but so do all 03, 08 and 09 numbers) rubbish we have seen many times before.

I hope the forthcoming policy update from the Cabinet Office, as a result of the recent Public Accounts Committee enquiry, arrives soon.

Ian G wrote on Nov 21^st, 2013 at 12:14pm:

There has been a development: http://www.healthwatchisleofwight.co.uk/resources/iw-countil-response-regarding-change-childrens-services-phone-number The response from the council trots out the same old "0845 is local rate" (not true), "we don't receive an income" (economical with the truth) and "0845 allows us to route the call to different locations" (true, but so do all 03, 08 and 09 numbers) rubbish we have seen many times before.

The service is operated in conjunction with Hampshire County Council which uses 0845 numbers for other purposes. It gives call pricing information:


Quote:

Calls to 0845 numbers are free on some BT call plans but will cost between 4p (local rate) and 6p (national rate) per minute for BT customers not on a plan. Calls made using other service providers or mobiles may cost more. Alternatively call  01329 225398 - standard and local call rates apply to this number.

The mention of rates for callers not on a BT call plan would seem to be pointless as there are none. There are many other providers with rates that are more widely used, but Hampshire County Council clings to quoting BT rates.