Courts

Justice written question – answered at on 10 April 2014.

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Photo of Frank Field Frank Field Labour, Birkenhead

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of (a) magistrates' courts, (b) County courts and (c) County Court money claims centres use higher-rate telephone numbers.

Photo of Shailesh Vara Shailesh Vara The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

The information held centrally on how many and what proportion of (a) magistrates courts, (b) County courts and (c) County Court money claims centres use higher-rate telephone numbers is as follows:

(a) Magistrates courts—33 out of 330 courts

(b) County Courts—17 out of 216 courts

(c) The County Court Bulk Centre in Northampton which centrally manages money claims, also uses higher rate telephone numbers.

Some of the individual numbers are used for more than one court.

As stated in previous answers to parliamentary questions, the Department's approach is not to use 084 or 087 for non-geographic numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone—see:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130423/text/130423w0004.htm#130423w0004. htm_wqn27 and

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?ids2013-11-20a.175002.h&s=Vaz+0845#g175002.q0

The number of 08 numbers used by the Department has fallen by 55% since December 2009.

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