West force only one in UK to hit 999 target response time
AVON and Somerset is the only police force in the UK meeting a target to answer 90% of 999 calls in under 10 seconds, new data has shown.
This is the first time that this set of national statistics has been released by the Home Office and the call handlers at the forces headquarters at Portishead have been ranked top of the pile.
Chief Constable Sarah Crew said: “I want to congratulate the control room for coming first nationally for speed in answering 999 calls.
“Having a fast response time to answering 999 calls is vital, especially when the caller is in distress or the emergency is ongoing.
“Being able to reassure members of the public that we can answer their call quickly after they dial 999 is a great service and I could not be prouder of our contact centre provision for supporting callers during what could be a terrible time.”
Head of command and control at the force Becky Tipper said: “It has been a challenging year with increased 999 demand.
“The entire control room team have worked extremely hard to ensure we are there for those who call us as quickly as possible.”
The picture is not so positive elsewhere in the country, with 43 police forces failing to meet the target from November 2021 to April 2022.
Overall, 71% of 999 calls were answered within 10 seconds. Humberside Police recorded the worst figure, with only 2% of calls answered in under 10 seconds. South Yorkshire Police answered 17%, Durham Police 41%, North Yorkshire 44% and Gloucestershire 49%.
Wiltshire Police was ranked in the middle of the field, with an average call answering time of 16.63 seconds compared with the national average of 16.1 seconds.
Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said: “Quite rightly those ringing 999 in an emergency expect their calls to be answered immediately and what today’s league tables show is these calls aren’t being answered as quickly as they should be by Wiltshire Police.
“In order to maintain public confidence in Wiltshire’s policing service, we must start to see improvements in weeks, not months.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The public deserve to know that their local police force will be at the end of the phone, ready to leap into action at seconds’ notice to protect them from harm.
“Fundamentally, publishing this data is about driving up standards in our incredible emergency services even further, so that the public can have every confidence in the police’s ability to save lives and keep our streets safe,” she added.
“We can now see where forces are excelling and where vital improvements need to be made and I thank the police for their commitment to ensuring we maintain the best emergency services in the world.”