Meanwhile we've gone from big ugly grey landrovers with a Confidential Freephone 0800 number, to a highly-publicised campaign for the "new non-emergency number" ... 0845 600 8000 ... 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/27/ninein27.xml

Looks like the whole plan is to be shelved?

Quote:


Another stuff-up! 

Perhaps this was also influential

Quote:

Does anyone know of a geo number for 101, i have 0114 261 0622 but that is only good in sheffield, where as 101 is universal

Cheers

Kev

mikeinnc wrote on Oct 27^th, 2006 at 6:44pm:


101 is carrying on in Northumberland, however what use is it.

For 10p I was on hold for 7 minutes before I gave up trying to report an ASBO event.
When I called the police on a local number (for 5p) and was answered instantly, they said that 101 would have just referred me to them anyway as 101 is mainly an advice and referral service.

Perhaps 101 should be shelved if you need the police for anything serious?

http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/hampshirenews/display.var.1802322.0.threat_t...

Threat to future of 101 police number
By Chris Semple


<<
HAMPSHIRE police say they are confident their controversial 101 non-emergency number will continue despite a Government warning that funding for the scheme is due to be slashed.

The county was one of the first places in the UK to get the 101 number, which was set up to tackle anti-social behaviour and ease pressure on the 999 service.

Since its launch in May last year tens of thousands of calls have been received by the service, to the extent that last November Hampshire was handed an additional £500,000 in Government funding to pay for extra staff to ensure calls are answered and dealt with.

However the Government has now warned those county's operating the 101 number to expect a reduction in cash because of severe financial pressures'.

Five Wave 1' pilots scheme of the number were originally set up in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Cardiff, Sheffield, Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, and Leicester and Rutland, and are widely regarded as successful.

Last night, for example, Hampshire received more than 670 calls to the number, although Halloween is typically one of the service's busiest days of the year.

But a scheduled expansion of the 101 project was suspended last October amid apparent cost fears.

A verdict on the future of the scheme is due imminently, but a report by South Wales Chief Constable Barbara Wilding disclosed that the Home Office has already told existing pilot areas to expect a cut in funding, which had been due to continue until at least 2010.

According to Ms Wilding's report, delivered to the South Wales Police Authority, a Government official said "severe financial pressures within the Home Office" were to blame for the rethink of the expansion.

Creating a national non-emergency phone number to take pressure off the 999 system and combat anti-social behaviour was a pledge in Labour's manifesto for the last general election.

However the Home Office has been accused of quietly' abandoning its manifesto pledge, after it emerged in June that administrative support for the project had been slashed.

The non-emergency number had originally been due to roll out nationwide by 2008, with total development and implementation costs expected to top £140 million.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Ministers are currently considering the future of the non-emergency number.

"The service is still live and is currently being assessed."

Today though a spokeswoman for Hampshire Constabulary said they were confident the scheme could keep running.

The spokeswoman added: "It's nothing new.

"It's always been clear that the funding for the scheme as it stands at the moment couldn't continue. However we are looking into ways of keeping the number running if funding is reduced."

11:58am Thursday 1st November 2007

>>

Source: Scotsman

http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Ministers-set-to-bin-idea.4072973.jp

<<
Ministers set to bin idea of a non-emergency 101 hotline
Published Date: 12 May 2008
By IAN SWANSON

CALLS for a Scotland-wide non-emergency number to ease pressure on the 999 system are set to be rejected by the Scottish Government.

Ministers believe a 101 hotline piloted south of the Border represents "a very limited solution" and instead propose a marketing campaign to remind people how to contact their local police.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) had backed the idea of a 101 hotline after figures showed up to half the 5.8 million 999 calls received by Scotland's police forces each year were not related to emergencies.

And Edinburgh West MSP Margaret Smith, the Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman, was among politicians supporting the move.

But in a letter to the Scottish Parliament's audit committee, senior civil servant Robert Gordon made it clear that ministers are not convinced. He said a single national non-emergency number "has attractions" but would need to link into not only Scotland's eight police forces but the 32 Scottish local authorities, ambulance and fire services, British Transport Police and others.

And, he added, telecoms regulator Ofcom had said a three-digit number could be made available only on a UK-wide basis.

Mr Gordon said the existing 101 number, intended for reporting antisocial behaviour, could be expanded into a "genuine non-emergency number" across the UK. But he said the pilot in England and Wales had not led to a reduction in 999 calls.

The cost of introducing a 101 number across Scotland has been estimated at around £9m.

Mr Gordon said: "Overall, ministers consider that the 101 number is a very limited solution and while they welcome ACPOS' work to explore its potential, the evidence at this stage suggests that, as it stands, the 101 number is unlikely to deliver benefits across the country which would justify that substantial investment."

He said using 03 or 0800 numbers would mean extra costs for the police. And he added: "Many forces have already carried out extensive work in marketing their 0845 numbers and consider there is a strong risk that another change would confuse the public in those areas."

Mr Gordon concluded that many of the concerns could be met if the public were more aware of the correct number to call. He said only three forces – Fife, Strathclyde and Northern – had employed a marketing strategy for their new contact centres.

He said: "Ministers consider that further and more effective marketing work could be usefully undertaken to make the public more aware of the numbers to be called in non-emergency situations."

Commenting on the news that the idea looks set to be scrapped, Edinburgh West MSP Margaret Smith said: "I'm very disappointed by that and I would be interested to see the evidence on which they're basing that decision.

"This was something that the police forces had welcomed as a possibility. I don't think people are absolutely sure on how to contact the police if it's not an emergency. The one number they do know is 999 but they probably don't know how to get in touch with their local police station."
>>