North Yorkshire Police fails to meet Home Office 999 call answer targets
North Yorkshire Police is picking up 44% of emergency calls in under 10 seconds
North Yorkshire Police is failing to answer enough 999 calls in under 10 seconds.
The Home Office says 90% should be answered in that time but new figures show the force is only picking up 44%.
43 police forces across the country failed to meet the target over the six months from November 2021 to April 2022.
Overall, 71% of 999 calls were answered within 10 seconds.
Avon and Somerset Police was the only force to meet the standard, according to national statistics released for the first time by the Home Office.
Humberside Police recorded the worst number, with only 2% of calls answered in under 10 seconds. South Yorkshire Police answered 17%, Durham Police 41%, North Yorkshire 44% and Gloucestershire 49%.
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."
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for contact management, Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd, said a lag in connecting calls can contribute to waits but that "this isn't for a member of public to resolve".
"We want the public to have access to the data as part of policing being open and transparent," he added.
"This is the first time police forces and the public have been able to see the time it takes to answer 999 calls from the call being made by the public, it being connected to the police by BT and local providers, to it being answered by police call handlers."
The Association for Police and Crime Commissioners local policing leads Alison Hernandez and Jeff Cuthbert said the data shows "the demand for policing and the volume of calls" across the country.
"Police and Crime Commissioners are committed to supporting excellence in policing and will use this data to continually drive forward improvements and hold the police to account on behalf of the public," they added.
North Yorkshire Police: 'this falls below the standard that communities deserve'
In response to the publication of new league tables which show how quickly police forces answer 999 calls, North Yorkshire Police’s Lead for Contact Management, Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield, said:
“We welcome the release of the 999 Performance Data today which shows the high level of demand being placed on call handlers every day, both in North Yorkshire and nationally. The publication of this data is a key part of us being open and transparent with the communities we serve.
“It is also the first-time police forces, and the public, have been able to see data related to the time taken to answer 999 calls on a consistent basis across forces.
“Along with every other force in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, here in North Yorkshire we strive to answer 90% of 999 calls within ten seconds. Currently, we’re achieving that target 44% of the time. This falls below the standard that our communities deserve, and we are working hard to immediately increase that rate so people in need of our help get through to us quickly.
“Whilst there are a number of factors which impact on the speed at which 999 calls are answered, we recognise that we are not staffed to meet our current elevated levels of demand and we are investing in a number of measures to make improvements and get calls answered quicker.
“This includes putting in place enhanced recruitment plans for more staff within our Force Control Room. We expect to have recruited 10% above our establishment by September 2022. The additional 10% allows for the levels of staff turnover that we experience.
“We have also established a pool of reserve staff to deal with administrative tasks on behalf of the call takers in the Force Control Room. The additional costs for these interim arrangements have been funded by North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.
“The dedicated team of staff who handle our calls within our Force Control Room work incredibly hard, in a very challenging environment. We will be recruiting for our next intake very shortly so if you or someone you know is interested in joining the team, please keep an eye on the jobs section of our website or register your interest via our vacancies page.”