PublicTechnology.net reports:
The Liberal Democrats Leader Nick Clegg yesterday launched a campaign against ‘Faceless Britain’: the Government’s increasing reliance on remote call centres to provide essential services.
Research by the party shows that the increasing use of call centres has resulted in the cost being shunted to the user, especially the poorest who have no choice but to call from a mobile phone.
The research says:
- Nearly a quarter of people earning under £11,500 don’t have access to a landline, that amounts to over 2 million people
- Call centres for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) are costing mobile phone customers up to £400 million a year
- The cost of an average call to Jobcentre Plus Benefits (40-50 mins) on a mobile can be equal to half a week’s Jobseeker’s Allowance for someone aged over 25.
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg yesterday met with mobile phone companies, Ofcom and the Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss how the Government could make certain helplines free, regardless of the type of phone used to make the call.
Commenting on the start of the ‘Faceless Britain’ campaign, Nick Clegg said:
“More and more services that used to offer face-to-face contact are being replaced by remote and inhuman call centres leaving consumers paying the price.
“We are witnessing the progression of an unaccountable state, creating increasingly remote services divorced from the people they are supposed to serve.
“So-called ‘freephone’ or local numbers are a prohibitively expensive option for the millions of callers who are reliant on mobile phones.
“Amid soaring tariffs and restrictive call packages, people who can’t afford a landline often find themselves being charged more than a week’s Jobseeker’s Allowance just to make a claim for the benefits owed to them.”
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6 Comments
Sorry – I know I’m being rather a big mouth on here at the mo – but surely mobile phone companies should reduce their charges as well…
Also, I used to think using a mobile on pay as you go was cheaper than landline, but with free calls along with broadband, it can sometimes work out cheaper…although without a fixed address you may not be able to do that…
It’s an interesting issue…
This is excellent stuff by Cleggy. This is kind of stuff why I am a Liberal Democrat.
The Job Centre Plus number is an 0800 number. JSA is £59.15 a week, for the over 25s. So for a 50 min call to cost more than half that, the cost of ringing an 0800 number from a mobile would have to be over 60p per minute. O2 charge 15p a minute, so do Virgin. Vodafone charge between 10 and 30p. Does anyone pay 60p a min to ring a freephone number? If so, Nick should refer that company to OFCOM.
More generally, JC+ could make things better by offering a landline (non-0800 number) as some mobile companies charge lower rates for 01 numbers than for 0800 numbers. This would cost JCP nothing, but would cut costs for some users.
But really they should ring people back!
We are witnessing the progression of an unaccountable state, creating increasingly remote services divorced from the people they are supposed to serve.
This is joke politics. What is the alternative – lots of expensive locally staffed offices to deal with the occassional caller? (Because, of course if the offices were not local Nick Clegg would be complaining about the cost of the bus fare to get to them).
What, exactly, do the Lib dems propose to cut to pay for this more expensive network?
In short it is typical Lib Dem shallow populism – of course nobody likes call centres in general. But the idea that you can get something for nothing has long since been seen through by the electorate and yet the LDs continue to promote it over and over again.
If you want to be a serious party of government it is time you stopped all this stupidity.
Lovely? I doubt it VERY much. Let’s see a pic then & we can vote on your loveliness or otherwise.
I myself am of course, lovely & sexy & smart too.
Lovely: they should ring people back.