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The government has been accused of "not making it any easier" for people to find work after it was revealed that a Department for Work and Pensions phone line was charging the unemployed up to 40 pence a minute for advice.
At business questions in the Commons, the Conservatives criticised the advice line for charging those looking for employment.
Shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan called on the government to justify the cost for those with little or no income.
"The government is not making it any easier for people to find work," he said.
"They are being charged to dial in, hang on for ages and then often just get cut off.
"It costs them a lot of money just to have an initial conversation on the phone.
"How do you justify charging people who have little income high rates or even at all for seeking advice on getting a job, particularly in the depths of one of the deepest recessions this country has ever seen?"
Commons leader Harriet Harman agreed to raise the concern with pensions secretary James Purnell.
She told Duncan: "You make an important point about phone lines for people calling job centres.
"I will raise that, particularly with the secretary of state for the Department for Work and Pensions.
"But it is very important if we are going to help the unemployed, who through no fault of their own lose their jobs as a result of this global financial crisis, that we put extra investment into the job centres."
She said that the government invested £1.2bn towards helping the unemployed.
"With the extra resources which are going into job centres, which your party has opposed, that extra investment should make sure we can provide a good service, not only face-to-face but also on the phone as well," Harman added.
Jobcentre Plus states on its website that phone calls from BT land lines should cost no more than four pence a minute with a seven pence call set-up charge.
But using a mobile phone or a different land line provider could cost significantly more, the website admits.
"Calls from mobile phones can cost up to 40 pence a minute, so check the cost of calls with your service provider," it says.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
George Manship
4th Feb 2010 at 10:46 am