1 in 10 who call police on 999 wait for more than a minute

County response time eighth worst in UK

PEOPLE calling 999 to contact Staffordshire Police face some of the longest waits in the country, according to a new league table.

Staffordshire Police has a mean l 999 answering time of 21.3 seconds, which is the eighth worst out of 44 forces in Britain.

But the force has a median waiting time of five seconds, which is the joint 13th best.

This suggests that Staffordshire’s average is being skewed upwards by a relatively small number of long waits, with nearly one in 10 callers having to wait more than a minute.

The data, which covers the six-month period between November and April, has been published by the Home Office as part of a drive to improve police service standards.

The league table shows that Lincolnshire Police is the quickest at answering 999 calls, with a mean wait of just six seconds.

Northumbria has the longest average wait time – 33.3 seconds.

Staffordshire Police answers 81 per cent of calls within 10 seconds, putting it in the top half of all forces in terms of hitting this target.

But nine per cent of Staffordshire 999 calls take longer than a minute to be answered, which is the eighth highest percentage.

Chief Constable Chris Noble, pictured, was quizzed on the issue of call handling by Commissioner Ben Adams at a recent public performance meeting, and he admitted that the force had to do ‘significantly better.’

But he was hopeful that new contact centre staff, better training and new technology would result in sustained improvement, by the end of the year.

The force says that both the volume and complexity of 999 calls are increasing, both locally and nationally.

A spokesperson for Staffordshire Police said: “On average, Staffordshire

Police receives 569 emergency 999 calls every day.

“Over the last 12 months, the force has experienced a 22 per cent increase in 999 calls compared to the previous 12 months. This is a national trend which is likely to continue.

“Whilst 999 calls remain a priority, they are becoming more complex and the time it takes to deal with them is increasing. Call handlers assess the threat, harm and risk to the caller and the community and sometimes resolve problems over the phone.

“We have invested heavily over the past few years to improve our contact services and offer alternative methods of contact for non-emergencies.

“We are starting to see an improved picture in call handling time thanks to a new triage process and the training of new staff.”

Staffordshire’s Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner, Ben Adams said: “The ranking comes as no surprise to me – I hold regular performance meetings with the force’s new Chief Constable Chris Noble, and am reassured that he is also committed to providing the best possible service for our communities.

“Under his leadership, significant work is already underway to deliver a series of activities to address this issue head on, and I will continue to monitor progress to ensure that the work he is driving remains on track.”

Nationally, police forces receive a 999 call every three seconds, with 71 per cent of these answered within the target of 10 seconds, and an average wait of 16.1 seconds.

The government says that publishing the league table for the first time will ‘empower’ forces to improve their performance.

Cheshire Police has a mean answering time of 18.2 seconds and a median time of 7.2 seconds. Seventy-six per cent of 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds.