Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential discretionary effect of the requirement by many online services for a mobile telephone number on elderly people using those services who rely on a landline telephone.

The Service Standard requires all government services to only ask for a phone number or mobile phone number if essential, and that there should always be an alternative channel available to the user who does not have a computer, mobile phone, or access to the internet.