Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of charging for 101 calls on the number of people reporting crimes; and if she will make a statement.

There is no obligation on telecom service providers to supply the 101 service free of charge as is the case with 999 under the 2003 Communications Act.

Calls to 101 cost 15p from a mobile device or a landline, regardless of duration. Calls are free from payphones.

The public have always paid to contact the police by telephone for non-emergencies and the 15p charge per call is a transparent rate. Police non-emergency numbers (such as 0845 numbers) which were used before 2011 could cost members of the public up to 40p per minute. While it may not be an option for everyone, the public can also report non-emergency crimes online via forces’ websites.