Cones Hotline
The Cones Hotline was a telephone hotline introduced by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major in June 1992 to allow members of the public to enquire about roadworks on the country's roads and report areas where traffic cones had been deployed on a road (to close a lane or otherwise restrict traffic flow) for no apparent reason. The telephone number for the hotline (originally 0345 504030, later 08457 504030, then 0300 1235000) was usually displayed on signs after sections of roadworks.
Between March 1994 to March 1995 the hotline was staffed by a single person during office hours and by the duty staff out of hours. It moved to an external contractor for six months, before being brought back in house in September 1995.[1]
The hotline was widely seen[citation needed] as being a waste of government resources, costing several thousand pounds per year to run. In September 1995, having fielded 17,000 calls, it was announced that the hotline would transition into a new system.[2]
Legacy
Highways Agency Information Line
The hotline continued after this date, with a broader remit, and renamed as the Highways Agency Information Line or HAIL. The Highways Agency was another of Major's innovations, having been formed not long before, in 1994. The hotline was one of the first to move to the new local-rate 0845 numbers in 1996. In 2010, the Highways Agency announced the two year phase out of the 0845 number in favour of a new number, 0300 1235000. The change was to take advantage of cost savings offered by 0300 numbers. For callers, the 0300 number was treated the same as a typical geographic phone number (starting with 01 or 02) in pricing schemes by all phone companies, including mobile phones. Under the 0845 number, some charged extra to call the number. Additionally, Highways England's per minute fee on each call was now capped at 5p.[3]
The system applies to major highways and motorways. You can report a breakdown, including your own, debris on the highway, other incidents or make enquiries about road conditions.
Other programs
The Cones Hotline was the forerunner of the Citizens Charter and the Charter Mark.[4]
In 1998 the 5-1-1 road conditions number started to spread across the US and Canada, and was later added to the North American Numbering Plan.
References
- ^ Hansard
- ^ Christian Wolmar (19 September 1995). "Cones Hotline put into cold storage". The Independent. London.
- ^ "New phone number for Highways Agency Information Line makes savings all round". wired-gov.net. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7772818.stm [bare URL]
- v
- t
- e
- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1990–1997)
- Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1987-1989)
- Foreign Secretary (1989)
- Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989–1990)
- Premiership of John Major
- First ministry (1990–1992)
- Second ministry (1992–1997)
- Shadow Cabinet
- One-nation conservatism
- Huntingdonshire
- Huntingdon
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Major_PM_full_%28cropped%29.jpg/100px-Major_PM_full_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%28HM_Government%29_%28St_Edwards_Crown%29.svg/100px-Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%28HM_Government%29_%28St_Edwards_Crown%29.svg.png)
- Budgets
- Citizen's Charter
- Charter Mark
- Cones Hotline
- Early 1990s recession
- Black Wednesday
- National Lottery
- Further and Higher Education Act 1992
- Grant-maintained schools
- Maastricht Rebels
- 1993 Newbury by-election
- Northern Ireland peace process
- 1993 reviews of the British honours system
- Council Tax
- Child Support Agency
- 1993 vote of confidence
- Back to Basics
- Privatisation of British Rail
- Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
- 1995 Conservative Party leadership election
- Cullen Report (Dunblane massacre)
- Cash for Questions
- Arms-to-Iraq affair
- United Kingdom BSE outbreak
- Wirral South by-election
- Resignation Honours
- John Major: The Autobiography (1999)
- More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years (2007)
- My Old Man: A Personal History of Music Hall (2012)
- Norma Major (wife)
- Terry Major-Ball (brother)
- Tom Major-Ball (father)
- Thatcher: The Final Days (TV, 1991)
- Independence Day UK (Radio, 1996)
- Margaret (TV, 2009)
- The Iron Lady (Film, 2011)
- The Audience (Play, 2013)
- The Crown season 5 (TV, 2022)
Category