On the day that Stoke-on-Trent City Council release their updated budget book, with details of which services are going to be cut as part of the cost cutting measures, it appears that they have come up with a new revenue generation scheme. A scheme that will hit some of the cities poorest residents.
From 10 February Stoke-on-Trent City Council & Kier, their housing maintenance partner are going to start using a dedicated new number for tenants to report housing repairs.
The new 0844 number will be available 24 hours a day according to a leaflet handed to Pits n Pots by a council tenant this afternoon.
I have just had this leaflet pushed through my door, telling me that from next week I need to call a 0844 number if I want to report any repairs.I get local calls for free on my home phone, but now I will have to pay for the call. Last time I rang I was hanging on the phone for over 20 minutes while I tried to report a problem with my bathroom. If I had to pay for the call how much would that call cost me?
This latest ‘tax’ on council tenants comes under the watchful eye of Vanguard the company brought in by John van de Laarschot to oversee the restructuring & improvements to the way the council work.
0844 numbers are classed as ‘non geographic’ meaning that the cost of calling the number is the same from anywhere in the UK. Pits n Pots can’t think of many reasons why anyone outside of the 01782 area code would need to call the repairs line apart from the odd instance when a family member may be calling on behalf of a council tenant.
According to a number of companies who provide 0844 numbers, people who use an 0844 number for business can enjoy revenues of up to 4p a minute depending on the number of calls.
Using the new 0844 number council tenants who use BT as their phone provider will be forced to pay a flat rate of 5p per minute on. So a call of 10 minutes will cost 50p
Virgin Media customers, on the other hand will be forced to pay a 12.24p connection fee and then 7.13p for each minute they are on the call, making a 10 minute call 84p
Council Tenants who rely on a mobile phone on Pay As You Go contracts can expect to pay upwards of 20p on O2 and 40p on Orange a minute.
Based on figures seen by Pits n Pots Stoke-on-Trent City Council contact centre get an estimated 60,000 calls each year for repairs. With an average call taking around 10 minutes which could generate an income of over £24,000pa for the council, an income funded by some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the city.
I checked with the Director about the number when I saw it printed on the leaflets and was assured that it is not a premium rate number but a local call number.I was not told about any possible rake off of call charges coming back to the council as revenue, I’ll going to the Civic Centre later this afternoon and will be asking some questions about the number and the charges.
Brain also said, residents are able to use phones in any of our buildings and make calls to the contact centre including the new repairs line for free
I well remember being on holiday at Butlins many years ago and ended up in one of the clubs on site.
Once we were seated,pondered on which bar I would get the round of drinks from(?)
Should I join in the scrum at one of the six ten deep bars or should I go to the small one on the end where the barmaid was standing in a pissed off manner with no one there?
I thought, what a load of knobs, not seeing the empty bar!
When I got back to the table I realised that 25p was added to each drink at the ‘Premier first class’ bar!!
Bastards.
I raise this story because as any fool knows, the 234 234 number is for those who don’t mind ageing as they listen to F*** you music as the operators fill in their crosswords.
I tried the Stoke Council run internet service with great ease and simplicity and couldn’t believe how easy it all was ‘online’ to report anything from graffiti to vandalsim.
Nobody came, ever!
So up pops a ‘unique’ service with the customer at heart’(all calls recorded for YOUR security and for training purposes. Training who,, monkeys?)and no doubt at queue jumping premium rates.
God, I hate this Council.
This council are a disgrace! I have just had one of there leaflets put through the door. Why shoud i have to pay to tell them there is a problem with their property?
I get free evening and weekend calls so unless it was a dire emergency Id ring after 6pm to report repairs needed, no I don’t get the choice I have to pay the extortonate call charges levied by Virgin. I’m on minimum wage and can’t afford to pay for BT to install a phone line.
I am disgusted.
what a f&*^ing joke this council of fols is.
Well, Its one way of making a few more bob, give it there do. Have we any info on who the council tenants are reporting the problems to, the council or is it to Keir themselves. What was the reason given for the change. seems a bit underhand to me. The council have a dutie of care to it tenants, it don’t seem like that is being fully met doing this.
and do you know, they are after chargeing for parking on council car parks on a Sunday, and of a evening as well, its a bloody disgrace, I tell you, the swiping swines….. lol.
What a great piece of work by what is an outstanding political website. Described by many as one of the best in the country.
Think about this, if you are on benifts – jobseekers and the likes, you are unlikely to have a BT landline. You are more likely to have a cheap mobile phone and a pay as you go sim card.
If you need to phone in for a repair to your council house to the 0844 number and you are kept waiting for say 10mins (which is not unrealistic) it would cost you around £4.00 for that call with no guaruntee that you will not have to call again.
£4.00 out of the £10.00 you are likely to have to have topped up you mobile by doesn’t leave a lot does it?
It’s just simply not on for Stoke-on-Trent City Council to hit the poorest in society like this.
As for the cabinet member Cllr Brian Ward – not good enough Brian you should know! I bet most individuals who saw that the number was an 0844 would have known that this non geographical number would be very expensive to call from a non BT line.
Some GPs are using this service now too – it’s an utter disgrace!
The officers responsible should hang their heads in shame, is it a case of I’m alright Jack?
Lets think of more and inventive ways to make more money, whilst fleecing the public.
I really can’t wait to see what’s next?
The stoke.gov.uk website behind a pay wall? (Can I take that back, that was not a serious suggestion)
So whilst we are on the daft suggestions to save or make money (you heard them here first)
Why not:
Charge people to cross the Stoke-on-Trent Borders?
Have a congestion charge to enter the city centre?
Tax any house with a sat dish, to coincide with digital switch over?
For a large fee offer some of the bull dozed land up for nuclear testing?
This one is ridiculous – charge proper parking charges for the civic centre car parks?
As a Councillor of this City I beg to ask the question, who was consulted about this change ? NOT ME.
I have had it brought to my attention today, and then picked up a briefing note compleat with leaflet in my pigeon hole at the Civic.
The City Council has an obligation to its tenants to carry out repairs, so why should they have to pay to report them.
Tenants could refuse to report repairs, but then they would be in breach of their tenancy, so they are in a catch 22 situation.
In the last few months I have received nothing but complaints from residents about the time they have been on hold whilst trying to report repairs, these have varied from 7 minutes to 42 minutes. Many give up and contact me to ask me to report the repair for them. Sadly even as Councillors we don’t have a different number to report the matter so I can be on hold for the same amount of time. Like myself many residents these days use a mobile, it will be more costly on these as tarrifs are different from company to company.
The leaflet goe’s on to say that you can still report the repair for Free if you go to the Local Centre or One Stop Shop. So if your elderley or disabled, or a low income family you have to drop everything and make your way out to the local centre, which could be a couple of miles away, and if it dosn’t close in the review being carried out.
It may genorate income for the Council but it will send household phone bills up.
The leaflet boasts the new number will be available 24 Hours a day, you can currently report repairs & emergencies 24 Hours a day.
Just a thought does this mean the local centre or one stop shops will be open 24 Hrs a day so you can use the free phone. “I don’t think so”.
It realy is shocking, even some contract phones with so much free time per month will charge you more phoneing a 0844 number.
So long as Cllrs don’t move to 0844 (cllr ward you really didn’t know of the costs and your setting a budget) tenants can simply call their local councillors sure one if not all will pass on the information and get back in touch with date for appointment
Who is benefiting from this Keir or the Council? Once again officer are putting in place extra charges for tenents, is it not enough that rents are increasing. Is this one of the brilliant ideas from Vanguard????
When are they going to think of tenents, it is OK to say tenents can make free phone call from Local Centres, what about people who are house-bound. (It wont be long before the council close the local centres) Get into the real world.
After reading Cllr Naylors comments how many other councillors have not been told of these changes or even beeen consulted!!!! It is about time the cabinet members started asking questions.
I am still involved with Residents Associations they have not had notification of these changes. What happened to the promise of consultaion. Why am I not surprised that a copy of these leaflets have not been passed on to them.
Should the City Council print the cost of the calls when using this number, most other organitions do.!
Cabinet members should be ashamed of themselves to allow this to happen.
Maybe someone should find VdL’s number and get tenants to ring him up with their problems – I bet he has a team of staff taking his calls.
With all these cuts, has the Vanguard (un tendered-for) contract been reviewed – not much evidence of improvement if this is all they can come up with – this is the sort of stuff you might expect from a 16 year business studies student, not a multi million pound improvement project. They may take up some of MattB’s ideas next.
I bet a 16 year old business student could probably come up with with better ideas, as they’ve not yet had a indoctrination into the councils world (notice how I didn’t say the real world)
I bet a 16 year old business student could probably come up with with better ideas, as they’ve not yet had a indoctrination into the councils world (notice how I didn’t say the real world)
Ay! up nar, council members jumping in, making the same point I did, whose getting the cash from this, council or Keir, its not on, but we need to find out what backside needs cracking around before we start.
Warren, if you actually win the election and get to represent your beloved Meir, will they allow an interpreter to represent you in full Council?
There will be no need for that Gary, if I wanted to be nasty I could ask if your shrink would have been allowed to sit in a full council with you, if you had ever in-fact gained a seat, but you never did, and never will, so we’ll never know, and I feel like being nice, so I won’t say it.
Again, who said anything about Meir. See my post on my Meir blog to see my other options.
Is Warren running for the same seat as you are Gary, or are you trying to teach him how are things are done in the
schoolcouncil chamber?Warren – well done by not stooping down to his level, and keeping it stum
Thank you Matt…..lol.
An utter disgrace!
How low are this cabinet willing to stoop?
The rent rise will already hit council tennants. But I believe just about a third are affected because many are on housing benefit. With this charge they are all going to be affected if they need a repair and every time they have to chase it up! Will this mean jobs will go undone so as to bring in extra income by forcing tennants to make more calls (I know – I’m highly cynical)?
And it could mean more people will be ‘phoning their councillors instead, adding to their burden, rather than reporting problems direct.
I think council tennants should protest. I think what they should do, especially if they can’t get to their local centre, which may have shut anyway, is ‘phone Councillor Ward, 24 hours a day, stating the fact he has promised them free calls in the quote above and ask him to report their fault for them. His telephone number is available at:
http://www.moderngov.stoke.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=173
Last week when they reprieved, for now anyway, the children’s centres and a handful of other threatened services I thought the council was starting to learn the value of listening to the public before making cuts; once again they have proved me wrong.
Charging tenants to use the telephone helpline is blatant profiteering, the council and the phone companies stand to make as tidy profit and as ever it is the poorest people who will lose out
Yet again there has been exposed a yawning gap where public spirited values used to be in the workings of the council. Now more than ever we need a political movement that puts the needs of local people on an equal level to turning a profit.
Has anyone noticed how Warren spells correctly when he’s under pressure?
Strange that.
Get real Matt and stop being his sucker.Most of the rest sussed him out years ago.He’s a class fake dreamed up as a sock-puppet by an ego wanting to play Mr.big in the written world.
Definition of a a non de plume or avatar: ‘Stokie’ calling a.n.other a clown.
Definition of an internet blogging ‘sock-puppet’(official):’Jack Daniels’(really, ‘stokie’)praising up ‘Stokie’ as being great and wonderful with futuristic ideas and having great sense and sensibility.
A natural Leader.
In other words, a moron with no mates.
nb. all names changed to hide his embarrassment.
You still not heard of Google Chrome then Garry.
Anyway, I’m takeing the rest of the day off, got loads of DVDs to watch, one of the titels reminds of you infact, ‘The Losers’ so long sucker.
Officers of the council motto.
Jack up the rents.
Jack up the poll tax.
Drop services.
All so that our over inflated pensions and jobs are safe.
They serve us, not we serve them.
Your question passes the buck.
Who sends our troops to war?
Who puts up our taxes?
Who builds a new hospital?
It will always be the politicians and it will always be you that elects them or fires them.
anything other than that gives them a ‘get out clause’.
Blame the politicians for an un-opened email and blame them for buying our unnecesary bins. Blame them for closing our schools and blame them for closing our swimming baths. Blame them for overblown consultants and blame them for pretty flags.
Just blame them.
If you find them not guilty, then re-elect them for a further four years and then be quiet.
I think the big question we need to ask here is WHO is making these decisions. Is it the councillors who we elect or people who WE pay the council to employ on our behalf. Also if the council have been led to believe there is no rake off on these calls do we have another case of corruption within the council where somebody else is taking the money !!
This evening I had reason to call the repair line on account of a minor gas leak. I spent around 15 minutes listening to music, as I’m on Orange I couldn’t actually have afforded this call using the new number – I’d have run out of credit whilst waiting.
So what I’d like to know is, if someone has an emergency and ( heaven forbid) no credit are they supposed to just dial 999 ?