Northumberland Council bosses blasted over telephone number

Apr 28 2009 by Dave Black, The Journal

BOSSES at Northumberland's new super council have been accused of failing to comply with an independent regulator's guidance by providing an 0845 number for people who need to contact the authority.

Members of the public who telephone the all-purpose council – which came into being on April 1 following the switch to unitary local government – now have to use a single number, 0845 600 6400, to speak to call handlers.

Numbers beginning 0845 and 0875 are used by many businesses and organisations providing a wide range of services, but calls are generally more expensive than to ordinary 01 or 02 geographical numbers.

Calls to the new county council number from mobile phones cost between 8.5p per minute and 20p per minute, depending on the network. Now former Blyth Valley borough councillor, Bob Watson, has made a formal complaint to regulator Ofcom about the county council’s use of the number. He says Ofcom guidance states that public organisations such as Government departments, GP surgeries and councils should not use such numbers exclusively, when dealing with people on low incomes and other vulnerable groups.