Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7998804.stm

Police expand 101 non-urgent line

A non-emergency police phone line aimed at easing the pressure on 999 calls is to be rolled out across Wales.

The 101 service has been trialled in Cardiff since 2006, where it responds to low-level incidents such as noise disruption and nuisance behaviour.

Now, the four Welsh police forces are to run the 101 Cymru service.

It is hoped the alternative number will free up the 999 service to deal with more serious incidents but critics say they would prefer more beat officers.

The 101 service is a confidential 24-hour number giving direct access to advice, information and action for community safety matters, including certain non-emergency crime, policing and anti-social behaviour.

The Cardiff number has been run as a joint initiative between the police and councils, and has also dealt with complaints such as fly-tipping, graffiti and vandalism.

A Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) spokesperson said that while the all-Wales 101 number would be run by the four police authorities and forces, they will be "exploring opportunities for future partnership working with local authorities".

When the 101 service was launched in Cardiff, police figures showed only 20% of 999 calls made to South Wales police were classed as emergencies.

The force said that by relieving pressure on the 999 system, it was able to redeploy 25 extra officers to neighbourhood policing in the capital.

However, June Johnson, chair of Bayside Tenants and Residents Association in Splott, Cardiff, said she believed the money spent on 101 could be better used elsewhere.

"I'm not a supporter of 101 and quite a few people on Bayside are not supporters of 101, talking about it in the community. Why spend all that money on that when you could put more police on the beat?" she said.

"I have used 101, mainly to log complaints about anti-social behaviour, which we are told to do.

"But personally, I would prefer to get through to a police station or a police officer directly who knows the area.

"When you ring 101 they classify your emergency into different categories, which can then be dealt with in an hour or days.

"But what might not be urgent to them, can be to someone who is suffering from anti-social behaviour.

"Some people I know haven't had a response at all and other people have had a response to a less urgent matter within an hour. It's madness."

Funding withdrawn

The Home Office initially piloted the 101 scheme in five areas in the UK, including Cardiff.

However, it withdrew funding in 2008 following criticism that the number had not cut-down calls to 999.

The service was saved after local councils and police forces stepped in to run it.

The Home Office said it is not funding the all-Wales number and said the running costs were likely to come from each force's budget.

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No mention of the cost of 101 calls in this report.


The Dyfed-Powys Police contact page shows only 101 for voice communications. Those living outside Dyfed-Powys' 101 area can fax, use Minicom or send an email, but they cannot telephone.


The Flintshire Chronicle is the only place I can find that it says that the call cost is 10p per call (apart from BT Price List).

101 is also live in Hampshire as well:

http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/s/2049206_force_runs_101_number_alone

Yes, in my view this is a matter of grave concern.  We pay for public services (including huge amounts to Police Authorities via Council Tax paid to County Councils) and should not therefore be charged extra (a premium) for reporting matters to the police which is a public service, police forces are funded to deal with crime & crime prevention and victims or, indeed, potential witnesses and those able to assist the police, should not be charged for this.  By all means have a single point of contact (useful if one witnesses something while outside one's own area) but it should be funded in the same way as 999 or, if that is not considered financially acceptable, a number charged at geographical rates should be used.   This also will discourage police forces from taking the 03 route.

Surely 03 is better than 08?

I thought that the 03 numbers are included in the packages like 01 & 02

No Heinz, what concerns me is that some are rejecting calls to move to 03 numbers on the basis that 03 calls cost more for them to receive  and that these same people might feel 101 is cheaper for them than 03 & use that as an excuse for not moving to 03 nos.   Sorry if my original post was unclear, I was in a bit of a rush.

Dave wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 5:45pm:


Surley what you say Dave is no different to a 999 call?

sherbert wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 6:08pm:

999 is for emergencies so the force you require will be the one where you are making your call. You are unlikely to need to report an emergency when not at the location of the emergency.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 6:34pm:

For Hampshire, see the newspaper article:

http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/s/2049206_force_runs_101_number_alone

It says:

Quote:

From today's 'Mail on Sunday'............

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250876/10p-charge-police-revived-101-nu...


The Government is planning to resurrect an alternative number to 999  that will charge members of the public 10p to report anti-social behaviour and non-emergency crimes to police.

The 101 number was introduced in 2006 to take pressure off the emergency line but was abandoned after pilot schemes showed it failed to significantly reduce the volume of 999 calls.

It also caused controversy at the time after it was revealed the Government had planned to include ‘people drug dealing’ as a non-emergency crime which the service could deal with.
police

The Government is planning to revive a 101 number to report anti-social behaviour to police

Now The Mail on Sunday has learned that 101 will be introduced nationwide as part of a package of initiatives to be announced in the next fortnight to tackle anti-social behaviour.

The number is aimed at dealing with incidents such as vandalism, graffiti, drunk and rowdy groups, threatening and abusive behaviour, noise nuisance and dangerous driving.

It is being tested in Sheffield, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Cardiff. But during the initial stages of the trial in Hampshire, two out of three of the hotline’s 20,000 calls a month were ‘inappropriate’ and operators complained they received requests such as, ‘I’d like someone to test my smoke alarm’ and, ‘Do you know when the next bus leaves for Southampton?’

Critics claim the 101 line causes confusion, devalues the status of many crimes and that it is unfair of police to charge people for reporting a crime.

But senior police sources say the majority of chief constables support the introduction of the number to replace  forces’ 08458 or 0345 non-emergency numbers which many people forget.

Sources say the public will be able to dial 101 to report a burglary or crimes that require investigation but not an immediate ‘blue light’ response.

The expected cost of the new number is estimated to run into tens of millions of pounds and each local authority may have to man their hotlines with up to 20 police and civilian operators, costing around £450,000 a year. Alternatively, it may involve the recruitment of a private telecommunications firm to administer a national service.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has been consulting forces across the country in recent weeks about the plan, which is expected to start this summer.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The Home Office continues to fund the national infrastructure for 101 to allow local areas to adopt the number. We are  in the process of consulting with stakeholders before considering any options for the future of the 101 programme.’

Another proposal to be announced by Gordon Brown as part of the anti-social behaviour initiative is internet forums, where communities can vote on crimes that their local police should be dealing with. The votes are then counted and the local Inspector can decide on which areas to deploy more officers.

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