Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of public phone boxes were removed in (a) Liverpool and (b) England in (i) 2023, (ii) 2022, (ii) 2021, (iv) 2020 and (v) 2019.

Ofcom, the UK’s telecommunications regulator, is responsible for the regulation of public call boxes (PCBs). Under the telephony universal service obligation (USO), communication providers (CPs) such as BT and KCOM are required to provide telephony services throughout the UK, including PCBs. Ofcom have told us that they do not hold data on the number of PCBs removed by city or country.

In June 2022, Ofcom amended the rules regarding the removal of PCBs. Ofcom removed the local veto process and replaced it with a set of strengthened criteria which would ensure PCBs that are still needed are protected from removal. In this way, the removal of PCBs would become more efficient, while protecting the public’s needs. These criteria protect PCBs where:

• they do not have coverage from all four mobile network providers; or
• are located in an area with a high frequency of accidents or suicides; or
• they have made 52 or more calls over the past 12 months (i.e. the equivalent of one call per week); or
• there is other evidence of a reasonable need for the PCB, for example, if it is likely to be relied upon in the event of a local emergency, such as flooding, or if it is used to call helplines.

If a public call box that is the last at a site does not meet any of these four criteria, CPs can consult with the relevant local authority on removing it. CPs must still take account of any views and evidence received from this consultation before deciding whether to remove the box.

Public call boxes that are not the last at a site can be removed by BT and KCOM without consultation.