I recently rec'd my Employers Budget Pack 2008 from HM R&C. On the last but one page (p19) they publish letters. There were only 3 and the first and most prominent went as follows:

"It is very useful to have all the helpline and orderline numbers on the back of the bulletin. All of them are 0845 numbers. When these were first introduced the charge was the same as a local call. Telephone charges have changed a lot. All the calls from my phone to 01, 02, 03 numbers cost 0p per minute. Calls to 0845 numbers are 4p per minute. I know it is not a lot but I have to pay for all my calls (I do the payroll for a charity and pay all my costs personally). A normal half hour call costs me 0p, one to an 0845 number £1.20. Why does the revenue use 0845 numbers? Could you publish alternative normal numbers? If you want to use non-geographic numbers could you consider changing to the recently introduced 03 number?"

Editor: "HMRC keeps its policy and practice for handling telephone calls from customers through its centrally managed contact centre network under constant review. Whilst the policy is to operate customer facing helplines using 0845 prefixed numbers we are considering how the alternative numbering schemes interact with the wide range of tariffs available from telecomunication providers. HMRC uses 0845 numbers as they allow accurate routing of calls. It also allows each call, when received, to be routed to the contact centre best able to handle it. Using this facility allows us to manage call queue lengths, reduce call waiting times and offer the best available service during our opening hours."

I thought the following was worth noting:

a) Why did they publish this letter of all the letters they receive? I'm assuming because it has become a big issue. I assume that is also the reason for the Surrey CC entry on their web site.

b) They didn't publish the usual rubbish reasons for using 0845 (unlike Surrey CC). This seemed very straightforward and honest, although it didn't answer why they haven't yet migrated to an 03 number.