Below is the reply from the FCO in response to my FOI request. Whilst it has answered most of my questions, it has failed to provide the geographic equivalent numbers. I will, therefore, have to make a second request.

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Thank you for your e-mail of 16 February, asking about the 0870 telephone number that we have for Travel Advice enquirers to access our call centre.

The COI actually manage the FCO contract with the call centre on our behalf and it was the COI who provided the FCO with the 0870 number in the first place.

In November 2004, COI issued an update to their guidance regarding 0870/0871 numbers, and this was revised again last week. The key statement in the guidance is:

'0870/0871 numbers are not recommended, particularly when targeting individuals as by dint of falling national call rates, these have become expensive to the caller relative to a geographic call, which can act as a barrier to communicating information that the citizen should have access to as a right. If 0870/0871 is being used then other alternatives - i.e. a standard geographical number (either in parallel with, or as an alternative to the 0870/0871 number), the web or postal mechanisms should be considered and made available.'   

The full guidance can be accessed on the COI website at www.coi.gov.uk/ccg .

The COI have confirmed that their recommendation not to use 0870/0871 is not a 'rule' but was issued as guidance only. It is important to note that this guidance is recent and Departments need time to react on established services. As the line to our call centre was set up before the new guidance was in place, and a large number of materials carry the 0870 number, the COI has recommended that the number is phased out over time rather than being immediately replaced with a 0845 number or 0800 number. In addition, as Travel Advice Section said in their e-mail to you of 23 November, our Travel Advice service is also available on our website at www.fco.gov.uk/travel; ; if this is difficult for you to access, you can contact our Embassy in Washington to have the advice read out to you.

Revenue and provider

The amount the caller is charged depends on the operator the caller is dialling from, the billing option the bill payer has on their line and or/whether they are calling from a mobile. Last calendar year, the FCO received £234.80 in revenue from the 0870 number. However, in January 2005 it was £624.78, which is likely to be due to the large number of tsunami call volumes.

The provider, British Telecom, will receive the difference between what the caller is charged and the FCO receives in revenue. Typically this is between 1.12p per minute and 6.73p per minute depending of time of day of call. BT also charge FCO line rental which on average is £3.30 a month per number.
FCO Services provide two 0870 numbers, also through BT, but the FCO receives no revenue from these numbers and these calls are charged at the national rate.

I hope this helps to clarify the situation for you.

If you are unhappy with the decisions made in relation to your request you may ask for an internal review. You should write to me at the above address if you wish to complain.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:


Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Winslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

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£234 a year is a tiny amount for an organisation the size of the FCO. With all the bad press 0870 numbers are getting now, it can't be worth them continuing to use them.

Also, as they point out, it's actually BT that's profiting nicely from this arrangement.

Did you ask for the geographical number in your request?

As you say, for such a small gain to the organisation, 0870 (and indeed 0845) numbers should be removed.  Only the telecom providers, who push this “numbers racket”, gain to any significant extent. 

One government Quango that has replied to my FOI Act questions gains nothing from its 0870 number. (I asked the question twice to make sure).

Some Quangos and government departments are actually paying (Globe Communications) a per minute usage charge of 2.62p/min (exc vat)  to use 0845 numbers.

I do not believe that what they state is actually true. They are just trying to fob you off and avoid giving you the number. They would clearly know the GN, since they will use it themselves.

I am a bit new to this game but would the old "I need to ring you from abroad" angle. I used this with BUPA and it worked a treat.

My brother has a second home in Cyprus and he continues to work whilst he is out there. Most of his work is on the phone ore internet so he can do this and all of his contacts at banks and insurance companies have had to give him thier geograpic numbers!

Mike

The excuses public bodies are giving me at the moment in response to FOI
requests are just pathetic. My FOI request to the IND was submitted on
Feb 1, with another one to the MOD on Feb 22. The respective excuses are
as follows:

IND:
I am currently compiling the response to your request. Your request has not
been as easy to collate as you might think. I do apologise for the delay and
hope to get a response to you next week.

MOD:
Further to your telephone conversation with the Public Records Office on
05/04/05. Your request was passed to us three working days ago to answer.
By this time the deadline for reply had already expired and I apologise for
this. However, we are working very hard to gather information to enable us
to respond to your request.  We hope to be able to furnish you with a reply
very shortly.

I suspect some high level political maneuvering designed to suppress this
information. The whole pervasive nature of rip-off numbers is staggering,
and government, BT and Ofcom are all complicit in this legalized extortion.
If it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable. What has Ofcom done about
the NEG rip-off? NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. It is supposed to protect the
consumer yet it simply panders to the likes of NEG. It's a disgrace.

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It seems a little odd that they are so keen to bring the attention of the Information Commissioner onto the matter.

But I would ignore this and write/email directly the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office indicating your unhappiness with the response of his minions and also your intention of raising this matter with your MP if it is not satisfactorily resolved.