16 May 2006 101 - New police contact number

Police in Hampshire announce a new service to report all kinds of non-emergency anti social behaviour issues.

From May 15, people living in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will be able to call 101 to report all kinds of non-emergency anti social behaviour issues.

At present, all general police enquiries for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are made by calling 0845 045 45 45.

The new single national non-emergency number (SNEN) means that members of the community can easily report things they believe require action and gain access to safety advice and information.

Every caller will be given a reference number for use, if they need to make a follow-up call.

Partnerships have been established between local authorities and the police in five areas (South Wales, Hampshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, South Yorkshire and Northumbria). These sites were selected by the Home Office because of good practice in call handling.

The service will expand in scope and geographical coverage during 2006/7 to ensure that the 101 number is available across England and Wales during 2008. The initiative is backed by a fund of £140 million.

This will improve the delivery of non-emergency services through active cooperation between police and local authority service providers and will also help partnerships gain up to date intelligence on community issues.

This development is a key part of the government’s Respect drive to match services with peoples’ responsibility to report problems and their right to effective action.

Most people know the 999 service is there for emergencies: but up to 70 per cent of 999 calls to the police do not require an emergency response.

The aim of SNEN is to make it much easier for the public to access the services they need. It will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Calls to 101 will be charged at a fixed rate of 10p per call whether from landlines or mobiles. This decision was taken following wide consultation by with stakeholders, industry experts and research with the general public.

This showed that a small charge would not deter the public from using the service, but would reduce the likelihood of the service being abused.

The new service will compliment, rather than duplicate, existing non-emergency services and will improve the delivery of these services by providing a better coordinated response by local agencies.

The Single Non Emergency Number service will be provided by a partnership among 15 local authorities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and Hampshire Constabulary to handle calls and deliver services.

There will be two levels of call structure: Level one deals with the initial triage. This will be between 40 and 60 per cent of calls. The call itself with be dealt with within three minutes. Level two deals with the enquiries requiring lengthy resolution.

Superintendent Nigel Hindle, who is responsible for managing the initiative, said:

"In Hampshire, we currently receive 300,000 calls a year from people ringing 999, yet only 30 per cent of these are emergencies.

We are committed to answering 999 calls within 10 seconds, and we achieve that target more than 90 per cent of the time. If we can minimise the number of ‘non-urgent’ calls to 999, then we will be able to provide a far better service to all those people with a genuine emergency.

The exciting thing is that this is a first. Hampshire, along with four other police forces, will be trialling the new 101 service before it’s rolled out nationally.

This new non-emergency number is wholly aimed at providing better customer service.

It’s not about reducing cost for the Police or the Government; it’s about giving a better one-stop service.

Hampshire has the largest partnership of all the early adopters. This is further evidence of the effective way that Hampshire Constabulary works with its local authority partners

999 should be used as follows:

• Phone 999 only if
• Offenders are nearby
• Life is at Risk
• Injury is caused or threatened
• Crime or Disorder is in progress