Agenda item

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 a problem experienced by residents in Saltney because they were close to the Cheshire border and were directed firstly to Cheshire Police when they rang 101 or 999 from a mobile phone.  He also asked whether more officers were to be trained to be able to operate the laptop connected to the CCTV cameras in Saltney.  In response Superintendent Goss provided a detailed explanation on how calls from mobiles were directed, based on three service provider masts to ensure the caller was passed to the Police Control Room through the quickest route.   This meant that those living in the Saltney area could automatically be directed to Cheshire Police and would then need to choose option 4 for North Wales Police.  He explained that where calls were directed to was in the control of the mobile service providers, not the Police.  On the issue of training for officers, he advised that he would provide a response following the meeting. 

Councillor Richard Jones asked why the Police were slow in responding to 999 ‘crime in action’ calls.  Superintendent Goss advised that for priority zero calls, the time allowed to respond was 20 minutes but in the majority of cases, officers responded in five minutes or less. 

In referring to the decline in the number of incidents recorded by the Police, Councillor Robin Guest asked whether this was reflected in a reduction in the number of calls received.  He sought clarification on whether reporting the issue of livestock on the road was an appropriate use of a 999 call and whether action was taken against those who used the service inappropriately.  He queried whether there would be an impact on recruitment if calls from Flintshire were only answered by operators employed from the area and whether this was sustainable.  In response, Superintendent Goss confirmed that it was appropriate to phone 999 if the livestock on the road constituted a danger and added that it would be the Crown Prosecution Service who would decide if action was to be taken against individuals for inappropriate use of the 999 service.  The reduction in the recording of incidents did coincide with the reduction in calls which had fallen by 120,000 in a three year period.  He noted the comment about recruitment but explained that this had not been a challenge yet due to the high volume of applications for the role of operators. 

Councillor Peter Curtis asked whether there were any communication barriers due to the large number of Polish residents in the area and queried whether officers were also trained in sign language.  Superintendent Goss explained that some officers were fluent in languages other than English and Welsh and ‘Language Line’ which was a national facility for translation of other languages was also available to the Police.  He added that some officers were also trained in sign language. 

In response to a query from Councillor Andy Dunbobbin about the increased dominance of social media, Superintendent Goss explained that all operators were trained in the use of social media, emails, webchat as well as answering 999 and 101 calls. 

Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer sought clarification on whether he had appropriately used the 999 service to report an incident and in response Superintendent Goss said that if life was at risk or a crime was in action then 999 was appropriate but if not, then the 101 service was the most appropriate number. 

In referring to an experience of when she had needed to use the 101 service and the length of time it had taken for the call to be answered, Councillor Marion Bateman sought assurance that the amount of time taken to answer 101 calls had reduced in the past two years.  Superintendent Goss advised that the average time taken to answer 101 calls was seven seconds from when the call went through to the Control Room, which was after the 53 seconds for the bilingual message.  In response to a query from Councillor Lloyd on whether different operators dealt with 101 and 999 calls, Superintendent Goss explained that both types of calls were answered by operators but the telephony system ensured that there was always one operator available to answer a 999 call.  He added that the current system was approximately five years old and that a new system was to be introduced early in 2017.     

The Chairman thanked Superintendent Goss for his presentation and the offer of a visit to the Communications Centre.     

RESOLVED:

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