Simon's Big Idea - 566 366 - One Number For London

10.12.24am GMT Mon 15th Mar 2004

Simon Hughes MP, London Mayoral Candidate for the Lib Dems

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate will today release details of one of his 'big ideas for London', which will be the cornerstone of his manifesto for the elections on 10th June for London Mayor.

Mr Hughes has proposed "One Number for London" - a one-stop help line, which would operate 24 hrs a day and always be answered by a real person. It would be customer driven, answering queries, distributing information and advice and recording incidents. The proposed number for this would be 566 366 - the numbers of the word 'London' as spelt on the keypad of mobile phones.

A three stage phasing in of the system over one to two years would eventually include:

• Registering a complaint about noise, graffiti or abandoned vehicles

• Planning your Tube or bus journey

• Asking for opening times of local libraries and leisure centres etc

• Checking rubbish and recycling collection dates

• Finding out information about London's attractions and events

Simon said:- "London is a twenty-four hour city and so everyone must have access to services in the same way. As Mayor, I want to create a fast, efficient one-stop help line, operating all day, every day and always answered by real people."

"Too often in our city, we spend hours if not days or weeks trying to find services or report problems because we cannot find the right number, the right department or the right person. It wastes our time, our effort and our patience."

"I want to create the One Number for Londoners. When you dial 566366 you will get a way in to almost all the services people need most often in London. It is time for our city to become a better co-ordinated city with everyone working together to provide a service for Londoners."

ENDS

Notes

In March 2003 New York City launched a one-stop, transactional city help line 311, to provide access to and information on all city government services. This comprehensive 311 number now handles over 15,000 calls a day (which is expected to rise to over 30,0000). 311 deals with a whole variety of public services, from reporting an abandoned car to querying the opening hours of your local leisure centre. NYC is of a similar size to London, and often used as a comparison.

Liberal Democrat View

Dial LONDON - 566 366

We want to create a fast, efficient one-stop help line, which would operate 24 hrs a day and always be answered by a real person. It would be customer service driven, answering queries, distributing information and service advice and recording incidents.

As Mayor, Simon Hughes would start with integrating the call centre functions for all the GLA bodies, providing one-number access to information and services for all GLA bodies. He would work with the boroughs to include them into the system.

Question and Answer

Q: What will the number be?

A: He is proposing that the number will end with 566 366, which spells LONDON when dialled on a phone. The exact number will be dependant on negotiations with Ofcom and the telecommunications companies.

Q: What will I call the number for?

A: Below is a list of envisaged uses:

• Registering a complaint about noise, graffiti or abandoned vehicles

• Journey planning

• Opening times of local library or leisure centre

• Information about rubbish collection & recycling schedules

• Information on tourist attractions in London

• Non-emergency police calls

• Reporting pot holes

N.B. not all of the above will be available in the first phase, see below.

Q: What local and regional government services will it cover?

A: Initially it would only include GLA London services. As a second phase we aim to provide borough information and as a third phase dealing with services that boroughs provide. In phase one, if callers request borough information or services the customer service advisor will be able to put them through to the appropriate borough.

Organisation Information & Services, GLA & Mayor's Office Details of GLA meetings, etc, TfL Journey Planning, Reporting Street Faults, Metropolitan Police Service Non-emergency calls, Fire Service Non-emergency calls, Visit London / Visit Britain Tourist Information, Borough Councils Council-provided public services.

Q: What services will not be available?

A: Emergency services, national information and commercial services.

Q: How would it work in practice?

A: A customer service advisor in a central contact centre(s) will answer all calls promptly; they will be able to deal directly and quickly with the majority of information and service requests. For more complicated information and service requests the advisor will be able to tell the caller who they need to speak to and put them through directly.

Q: What timescale are we looking at?

A: This will be a rolling project; not all services will be available from day one, but they will be introduced over time. Initial preparation and research may take 1-2 years. After this we envisage a phased introduction. The first step will be the integration of all GLA controlled bodies communication systems (Transport for London, Metropolitan Police Service etc). The second step will be to provide information on borough services, such as rubbish collection schedules or library opening times in all the different London boroughs, once agreements on information sharing have been reached with the boroughs.

The range of information requests and services which can be dealt with directly by the customer service advisors will be gradually expanded as cross training takes place. i.e. training former MPS call operators to deal with the more complicated transport requests.

The third and final stage will be dealing with services which the boroughs provide. This will enable callers not only to access information but also to connect to borough services themselves. Most London boroughs are already working on their own one-stop shop systems for borough services, we would aim to integrate these into the London-wide one-number system. Callers requiring borough services would be routed directly to the one-stop shop for the correct borough. This will be reliant on the Mayor working constructively with the boroughs to produce a system which brings benefits to both sides.

Q: What are the benefits to Londoners?

A: A one-stop port of call for all local/regional government information and services will make it far easier to access the services Londoners need.

Q: What are the benefits to London government?

A: The vast data provided by such a system can be used to produce reliable statistics to improve service delivery. Also an integrated system will allow for better sharing of information and best practice between GLA bodies and between boroughs.

Q: Where will the contact centre(s) be?

A: It will be a condition of any service contract signed that the contact centre(s) will be based in London, to prevent jobs being exported outside of London.

Q: How much will it cost?

A: Costs will be largely offset by savings created through integrating the existing call centre operations of the GLA's different bodies. Also where this has been introduced in the USA it has led to a reduced level of Emergency (999/911) calls.

Q: How much will it cost to use?

A: All calls will be charged at local rate.

Q: Will I only be able to access this service by phone?

A: No the contact centres will also provide an on line service and will answer written letters.

Q: What if the caller does not speak English?

A: There will be provision for those who do not speak English.