Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make the police information number 101 a free phone number.

The public have always paid to contact the police for non-emergencies and the 15 pence per call charge is a competitive and transparent rate, especially when compared to previous police non-emergency numbers (such as 0845 numbers) which could cost up to 40 pence per minute.

Research by Ofcom shows that a small fixed charge does not deter people from calling the service and reduces the likelihood of it being used inappropriately.