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08|03|06

Ofcom agrees to Home Office request for 101 as single non-emergency number

Ofcom today confirmed that, in response to a specific Home Office request, the telephone number '101' will be made available as a single non-emergency number in the UK.

As part of the Home Office's wider police reform proposals, this service would enable the public to report criminal or anti-social behaviour in situations which are not considered to be an emergency.

The Home Office has already consulted on the introduction of this service and asked Ofcom to make '101' available for it. Ofcom is responsible for the administration of the UK's numbering resource and in October 2005 published a separate public consultation on the use of ‘101’.

Ofcom has not given any view on the appropriate tariff for calling this service. The Home Office has confirmed its plans to secure a common rate of 10 pence per call for this service across all networks. This is subject to ongoing implementation discussions between the Home Office and communications providers.

Ends.

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