Hi all

I sent in a FOI request to my local council who uses 0800's for council tennant repairs but uses 0870's to let us pay our council tax!

Anyways I sent in the standard cut n paste jobbie off the site and ive had a letter back asking for more information.
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Thank you for your FOI request. blah blah blah.
before I can answer your request fully I need to clarify some of the questions you have asked, mainly the points in 1.4, 2.4 and 3.4 below.

   Have you considered the revised COI guidelines?

Please could you reply to myself as soon as possible, so I can complete your FOI request with further clarification of what you meen by "COI guidelines".

blah blah.
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So what are COI guidelines? cheers

http://www.coi.gov.uk/aboutcoi.php?page=58

It provides guidance on use of 08x numbers for call centres and is funded (I'm assuming) by government.

They have a download guide available here in .pdf (acrobat reader) format (don't forget to view the revised guide just below it).

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Isn't that discrimination? I would write to your local councillor as well.

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Well that makes for an interesting situation. I would think you would be able to walk into the office and get all this information without writing to them.

That seems to me to be somewhat frightening. It further confirms my increasing suspicions that bureaucrats both at local and national level are increasingly out of the control of our elected representatives! In other words the tail is wagging the dog? Things are now really being controlled by unelected bureaucrats, locally, nationally and in the EU (Council of Ministers and Eurocrats).

That is not what Democracy is supposed to be about?

Freedom of Information Request

Further to my letter of 13th June, I am now in a postion to provide the information requested.

1. The Borough Council uses 0870 in order to provide a call centre environment.
1.1 We recieve no income from the use of these numbers
1.1.1 We recieve the telephone and call centre equipment and queuing systems free of charge.
I cannot release the equivalent geographical number as we do not have it.

2.  We Use 4 different which are free for the public. 3 of these are 0800 prefixs, one is a 0500 prefix.
We pay 4.98p per miniute on the 0800 and 13p per miniute on the  0500.
The 0800 attracts a service charge of £39.97 each.
The 0500 attracts a service charged of £300 a year.

If you wish to request an internal review blah blah blah...

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Why don't you put down a motion to the next meeting of full council resolving that your council will not use these 0870 or 0845 numbers in the future.  I know a councillor on Mole Valley District Council who did just that and got it passed.

Or you could get the policy called in for review at your next Scrutiny Committee surely?

So so true NGM.

We got that ever so wonderful cabinet system *sarcasim*. We still have a broom cupboard up on the top floor which has 1 terminal in it, and a laptop dock bay and a slow printer.
We all get free Dell laptops and free broadband/telephone line (For Council Related purposes only!)

I am a lowly backbencher on the side which hasnt got power,  We dont even have a controlling vote on ANYTHING! Other then scrunity which even then they still have the casting vote!