Issue - meetings

That the presentation by Superintendent Alex Goss of North Wales Police be received and Superintendent Goss thanked for his attendance and contribution.    

The Member Engagement Manager introduced Superintendent Alex Goss from North Wales Police.  He reminded the Committee that a discussion on the 101 phone service had taken place during the attendance at the meeting by the Police & Crime Commissioner, Mr. Winston Roddick, in December 2015.  As a result of that meeting a presentation on the 101 service had been requested. 

                        Superintendent Goss provided a detailed presentation which covered the following areas:-

·         Operational Support Services (OSS)

·         Calls and Incidents recorded in 2015

·         Communications Operators

·         Contact (Voice)

·         Other Means of Contact

·         Web Chat

·         POD

·         What happens with a call?

·         Inappropriate 999 calls

·         Tri-Service working

Superintendent Goss was aware of the frustrations expressed about the 101 Service which he felt were shared nationally.  He explained that the Force Communications Centre at St. Asaph was the first point of contact for those dialling 999 or 101 and that all 999 calls were answered within 10 seconds.  He added that a visit to the Centre could be facilitated for Members if required.  Superintendent Goss commented on the use of social media, which was an extremely powerful form of contact, and Web Chat, which had been introduced in July 2015; both were available 24 hours a day. 

The Centre was split into three areas which were Eastern for Wrexham and Flintshire, Central for Conwy and Denbighshire and Western for Gwynedd and Ynys Mon.  A new telephony system was to be introduced in early 2017 which would allow calls from Flintshire to be directed to the Flintshire Pod where operators who knew the area well would be situated.  He provided details of the priority given to calls received at the Communications Centre and examples of inappropriate 999 calls which was a significant challenge as it blocked people who genuinely needed the Police from using the service.  Close working was ongoing for the Police, Fire Authority and Ambulance Service to ensure that the public got the best possible service available to them at critical times. 

            A number of Councillors thanked Superintendent Goss for his presentation. 

The Chairman sought clarification on the recorded message received when dialling 101 which asked the user to choose a language on two occasions; he queried whether this could be streamlined.  Superintendent Goss advised that for 101 calls, callers heard a nationally determined bilingual greeting which lasted 53 seconds before the call was put through to the Control Centre where it would be answered.  The greeting had been agreed for use in all Police Forces in Wales but a number of enquires had been received as to why it needed to be so long; work was ongoing to try and reduce the length of the message.  There was a charge of 15 pence per minute for the 101 calls which was a national charge and was out of the control of the Police as it was set by the Home Office.  In North Wales, the service had retained an 0300 number for the Control Room, which was free of charge. 

Councillor Richard Lloyd referred to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89