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Following our announcement of the debate and the issuing of a briefing in this blog posting, the debate took place and the proceedings are recorded here.
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This news release introduces the term "Telephone Tax", and explains how the Telephone Tax applies in relation to government policy and other activity.
NHS GPs using Surgery Line
Central Government
This item was prepared following the report of the National Audit Office - see our blogging. It follows previous coverage of the issue by Money Box - see this item. The following quotations from Lin Homer indicate that the battle is nearly won. “[Some] of our callers already have access to a 0345 number, so we are well on the way to trying to make the system work better” This is an acknowledgement that 03 numbers are required and that the roll out will continue. “We are going to renegotiate the contract next year … to get the best value for the callers, as well as for HMRC, when we do that” Any Treasury minister who approves the continuing imposition of a Service Charge will have to answer to parliament and the people. The loss of the benefit of the subsidy indirectly achieved from the Service Charge must be approved - “we are all in this together”.
The extracts from media coverage of this story, shown below, offer an encouraging sign of the message about the cost of calling 0845 numbers now being presented fairly.
Pending possible discussions with the NAO about the detail of its calculations, the following briefing has been issued to give additional information and some insight into the published figures. Whilst exceptional waiting times are unacceptable, the improper use of 0845 numbers is a quite sufficient issue of concern in itself.
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