To: IAVOID0870

I note that your request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and refers to the Central Office of Information (COI) guidelines but would advise that both the legislation (which gives any person the legal right to ask for any information which is held by a public authority) and the COI guidelines relate to public bodies and/or government departments rather than businesses.  

The original decision to use 0870 numbers was made to allow us use of a large range of direct dial numbers which were not otherwise available to us; this enables us to direct incoming call in the majority of cases directly to the relevant team so there is less waiting time.

Our geographical number is 01772 642 690 which will direct callers to our main operator and we are always happy to call clients back.

We are increasingly aware of the cost implications to our customers and the concerns this raises and as a result this position is under serious review and the alternatives are being explored; your comments in this matter will be included in that review process.

feedback is reviewed to see what part of our process (including communication via 0870 numbers) needs to be addressed and improved.

NGMsGhost wrote on Feb 1^st, 2007 at 10:42am:



It's been done...