4. Copies of any internal or external documents, emails, faxes memos or notes of meetings that that reveal whether some Surrey residents who needed to make a non emergency call to the force were unable to do so at all whilst overseas because a considerable number of overseas communications networks completely bar calls to the UK 0845 number range due to the much higher termination costs of those calls faced by the overseas telephone networks compared to UK 01/02/03 numbers.  The applicant envisages many circumstances when a caller who is overseas might need to contact Surrey Police from abroad including if their UK home is burgled or vandalised or suffers fire or flood damage or if their car is stolen and then abandoned or if one of their relatives is attacked or murdered or needs to be reported as a missing person while they are out of the country.  The applicant finds it shocking that Surrey Police's apparent non acceptance of reality on the question of 0845 numbers leads to it still refusing to publish a geographic alternative (starting 01 or 02) to its 0845 number on its website or in other official documents, even though such an alternative (the Surrey Police main switchboard number of 01483 571212 which can and does connect calls to the contact centre) does exist and is published on the www.saynoto0870.com website and at www.crimestoppers.org.uk  This means that while more resourceful Surrey residents who need to find an alternative to Surrey Police's 0845 125 2222 contact centre number (for instance for use from overseas) can do so other residents simply cannot do so and hence may not be able to contact it.  The Applicant notes that overseas equivalents to the UK 999/112 service will not normally have access to a UK geographic alternative number for Surrey Police.

5. Copies of any internal or external documents, emails, faxes memos or notes of meetings which discuss whether the operational efficiency of Surrey Police's 999/112 emergency calls centre has been impeded or hindered since the introduction of its single number non emergency 0845 contact centre number by an increase in the percentage of calls received by the 999/112 call centre that are evaluated as in fact being non emergency calls, especially where considerable call time has then been taken to persuade the caller that they must instead report the matter on 0845 125 2222.  This should include any documents which reveal whether there is direct or anecdotal evidence that some callers who formerly willingly made non emergency calls to local 01483/01306/01737 etc geographic numbers used by Surrey Police now instead call 999/112 instead of 0845 125 2222 because of the much higher cost of calling the 0845 number than a normal 01/02 number for anyone with a contract mobile phone with bundled minutes or anyone calling from a BT Payphone or anyone on a landline with an inclusive calls package where 01/02/03 numbers are included in that package at the time of day the call is made but 0845 numbers are not.

6. Copies of any internal or external documents, emails, faxes memos or notes of meeting which indicate to what extent, if any, Surrey Police have taken in to account the recommendations made by the Central Office of Information in its Better Practice Guide for Government Contact Centres (Third Edition) to be found at www.coi.gov.uk/documents/gcc-third-edition.pdf  and in Sir David Varney's report - Service Transformation - a better deal for citizens and businesses, a better deal for the taxpayer to be found in Chapter 7 of his report at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr06_varney_review.pdf in its continued use of an 0845 phone number for the Surrey Police Contact Centre and its decision not to replaces that phone number with an 01, 02 or 03 prefixed phone number.  If you refer to paragraph 3.51 on p35 of the COI's Better Practice Guide for Government Contact Centres (p36 of the PDF file) onwards you will see that there is a large amount of material there that is relevant with respect to the use of Surrey Police's 0845 Contact Centre number and in particular the question of affordability of use by all individuals who have reason to contact Surrey Police by telephone. Similarly if you refer to paragraph 3.51 on p35 of the guide (p36 of the PDF file) of the COI's Better Practice Guide for Government Contact Centres onwards you will see that there is a large amount of material there that is relevant with respect to the use of the 0845 number by Surrey Police's Contact Centre and why your use of 0845 is likely to impose arbitrary and excessive costs on many callers, including the poorest members of society who often do not have access to a landline phone and instead use Pay As You Go mobile phones.

Following public consultation and advice from OFCOM, Nottinghamshire Police are launching a new non-emergency contact number in the autumn.

From the beginning of September 2009, all non emergency telephone numbers will be replaced with one single number - 0300 300 99 99

Calling from an overseas telephone network

Within the United Kingdom the Constabulary can be contacted for non-emergencies on 0845 456 7000. Subject to any limitations imposed by the overseas telephone network you can also call from abroad. You should consult the local telephone company's dialling instructions. In most cases you will be able to dial the international code for the United Kingdom followed by the number but with the leading zero discarded i.e. +44 845 456 7000. If you still have difficulty please consult the international operator for advice.

In respect of any monies generated as a result of using the 0845 number, I can further confirm that the Avon and Somerset Constabulary non-emergency number is a British Telecom Lo-cal facility. This means that the number can be called from any landline in the UK at the cost of a local call. However, mobile telephone service providers, set their own tariff and it is not possible to influence these charges.

Any monies generated from the 0845 number is donated to the Avon and Somerset Police Community Trust charity, details of which can be found at the following link: http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/units_and_departments/associations/police_c...

There is a National move towards organisations such as ours changing to the 03 number. However, there is a considerable cost implication to make that change, and more expense to maintain it. It is on the agenda as a possibility when budgets allow.

The information you have requested is exempt by virtue of Section 36 - Prejudice to effective control of public affairs, and Section 31 (1) (a)(b)(c), Law Enforcement. Both are qualified prejudice-based exemptions and as such require a public authority to conduct a public interest test and harm test. Please find these below.

Harm Test

There are concerns associated with the release of this specific information as regards the geographic numbers linked to the Constabularys 0845 number. Law Enforcement could be adversely affected resulting in the ability to prevent or detect crime becoming even more difficult than it already is. The release of this information could result in an adverse effect on response times of officers attending incidents, members of the public encountering difficulties in reporting crime and ultimately put the health and safety of the public at unnecessary risk.

Information will not be disclosed where the current or future law enforcement role of the force may be compromised by the release of that information, i.e., where the prevention/detection of crime, the apprehension/prosecution of offenders or the administration of justice may be hindered as a result of the release of information.

Public Interest Test

Favouring Disclosure:
The reasons why the public interest favours disclosure of the information are:

Accountability

When information disclosed relates directly to the efficiency and effectiveness of the force or its officers; in this case justification as to the use of specific telephone numbers for the public to contact the Constabulary is a matter that the force should hold up to public scrutiny.

Public participation

Disclosure could enhance informed debate and decision-making by the service concerning the use of geographic and/or 0845 telephone numbers.

Use of public funds

When public funds are being spent; there is a public interest in accountability and justification.

Favouring Non-Disclosure:

The reasons why the public interest favours non-disclosing the information are:

Efficient and effective conduct of the Force

Where the current or future law enforcement role of the Force may be compromised by the release of information; in this case release of geographic telephone numbers would lead to a reduction in the level of service able to be offered by the force, reduced response times, increased risk to the general public as a whole.

Public safety

Public safety is of paramount importance and there may be occasions where the release of information impacting on public safety, e.g. emergency contingency plans, may not be in the public interest. Any increase in crime as indicated above has the potential to impact on public safety. Release of this information could potentially cause harm to individuals if crimes were not attended as soon as possible or could not be reported immediately by the public. Public safety is of paramount importance to the policing purpose and although disclosure of the telephone numbers in question would be interesting to the public if released, it is not necessarily in the publics’ interest to release.

Balancing Test

Disclosure of the information will not be in the Publics' interest, will have an adverse affect on law and order and will not provide a true basis for accountability, public participation or the use of public funds.

If there is a risk that the future law enforcement role of the force could be compromised and the publics’ safety put at risk, it cannot be justified that the publics’ interest would be served in releasing this specific information if either of these aspects were to be compromised in any way.

After weighing up the competing interests, therefore, I have determined that the disclosure of the above information would not be in the public interest. I believe the harm considerations and the importance of the factors favouring non-disclosure outweigh those considerations favouring disclosure. My decision, on balance, is that it would therefore not be in the public interest to release this information. In accordance with the Act, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for this specific information.

I trust the above now fully explains the reasons for non-disclosure and the adverse effect this would have on the service currently provided and increased risk to the public as a result.

A solid case is made for the use of a non-geographic number. The same case is made by the Met Police, which does not have quite the same argument in respect of a local dialling code. The only argument against use of 03 by Avon and Somerset is that of cost. Avon and Somerset believes that the cost should be met by callers and other BT telephone subscribers, whereas the Met believes that it should be met by Council Tax payers and therefore uses 03.

Information Requested:

The direct dial number for non-emergency calls to WMP.

Harm

Section 31 (1) (a) (b) (c)

West Midlands Police (WMP) provide a local rate 0845 number for members of the public to contact the police for non-emergencies. Calls to a geographic number would not enter the call handling system. Therefore calls directed at any other number than 0845 may not be processed by the Call Centre. This may result in calls being ‘lost’ or remaining unanswered, or at best there would be a delay.

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