Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making all social security telephone lines freephone.

The Department’s current policy is that calls to claim benefit by telephone should be free so it uses 0800 numbers for these calls.

The Department uses 0345 telephone numbers where its customers call for other reasons, and these are calls that typically take less time to resolve. 0345 telephone numbers are included in many landline and mobile call minute packages. Where customers do have to pay to access our 0345 services it will never be more than the cost of a local rate call.

Where possible concerns are raised about call charges to our enquiry line 0345 numbers, we will offer to call a customer back.