David Hickson, of the Fair Telecoms campaign, said it was not only “unquestionably bad” for crime victims but would have a “serious” impact on the millions on pay-as-you-go contracts. Pay-as-you-go customers have to buy £5 to £10 top-ups so they can call 101 which they would not have to do if there were local numbers they could phone. It also potentially denies holidaymakers or people on business abroad the opportunity to report crimes as 101 cannot be accessed from overseas. David Green, director of think tank Civitas, said: “The Government’s unwillingness to fund the police properly led to speeding fines being used as a money-raising device by some forces. Now non-emergency calls are being exploited to extract more cash from us. The announcement that the 15p charge may be cancelled is overdue.” A Home Office spokesperson said: “The 101 non-emergency number is staffed 24-hours a day, unlike local police force numbers, which may be subject to change. That is why, following a consultation with police forces last year, 101 replaced individual force numbers on Police.uk. “However, Police.uk provides links to a list of individual force websites where further contact information can be found.” Analysis by The Telegraph, however, suggested about half the forces do not have alternative numbers on their websites.
TalkTalk has revealed plans to scrap the charge on calling 101 following the announcement that Virgin Media is axing the 15 pence flat-rate charge for calls to the UK’s non-emergency crime line. Lycamobile has also cancelled charges for calls to the service made over its network. EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have so far ignored calls from the Home Office to scrap charges for calls made to the number.