Non misleading stats - 101 call wait times

Dear Sir / Madam,

Thank you for taking the time to contact the Police & Crime Commissioner
for Cheshire. The Commissioner takes great pride in providing a voice for
Cheshire residents and aims to respond to correspondence within 10 working
days.

If you have not already done so, please can we ask that you provide your
correspondence details.

Best wishes,
Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire

Dear Mr Jones,

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request that was
received by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner on Wednesday 03
April 2024 (below). A response will be provided within 20 working days
after the day of receipt.

Kind Regards,

Matt

Matt Walton | Principal Governance & Compliance Officer

Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner

Cheshire Constabulary HQ | Clemonds Hey | Oakmere Road | Winsford | CW7
2UA

[1][email address] | 01606 364000

[2]A close-up of a logo Description automatically generated

Website: [3]www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk

Register for updates: [4]Commissioner’s Newsletter

Police activity in your area: [5]Cheshire Police Alert

[6][IMG][7][IMG] [8][IMG] [9][IMG] [10][IMG][11][IMG]

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Dear Mr Jones,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request submitted on Wednesday
03 April 2024 (below).

I write in reference to your request and confirm that your request for
information has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

In accordance with Section 1(1)(a)&(b) of the Act, the response of the
Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner is below.

I have recently received  a leaflet from the current commissioner where he
states that under his watch call wait times for 101 calls have dropped
from 'up to an hour' to 'average of 8 mins'.  Now i am sure this is an
inadvertent error by the commissioner and not a deliberate attempt to
mislead the public by comparing upto's with averages.

Please could you provide the following information (in relation to 101
call wait times):

 1. For the most recent period before the current commissioner took office
please provide both the upto figure and the average figure.

In 2020/21 financial year, the average answer time for PNE (101 calls) was
five minutes 20 seconds.

In accordance with Section 16(1) of the Act (duty to provide advice and
assistance), I can advise that the Office of the Police & Crime
Commissioner does not hold recorded information in respect of ‘up to
figures’. More detailed data in respect of PNE waiting times will be held
by Cheshire Constabulary. Please note that I have not forwarded your
request, although Cheshire Constabulary may be contacted directly via
[1][email address].

 2. For the most recent period please provide both the upto figure and the
average figure.

In 2023 calendar year, the average answer time for PNE (101 calls) was
five minutes 30 seconds. At the [2]Public Scrutiny Board meeting in
February 2024, the report presented to the Commissioner stated that “Since
November 2023 the average answer time has been below 4 mins each month.”
(see Page 7)

In accordance with Section 16(1) of the Act (duty to provide advice and
assistance), I can advise that the Office of the Police & Crime
Commissioner does not hold recorded information in respect of ‘up to
figures’. More detailed data in respect of PNE waiting times will be held
by Cheshire Constabulary. Please note that I have not forwarded your
request, although Cheshire Constabulary may be contacted directly via
[3][email address].

 3. The actions the commissioner has personally took to achieve the
(presumably) lowering of the call response times.

In the 2021/22 [4]Annual Report, the Commissioner stated:

“Throughout 2021/22 I have sought to modernise and improve the service you
receive from Cheshire Constabulary. One of the public’s main concerns they
fed back to me was delays in having 101 calls answered. Not only is it
unacceptable to keep the public waiting, especially when they are calling
in a state of distress, but I recognise that high abandonment rates mean
we are not hearing about all crimes and potentially leaving vulnerable
people unprotected.

Improving the service is a priority and I have made a significant
investment to achieve this. We now have more call operators, and the
service is improving. It will take time for the benefits to embed into a
sleeker service whilst recruitment and training take place, however I
anticipate

seeing real improvements in the near future.” (Page 6)

In the 2022/23 [5]Annual Report, the Commissioner stated:

“In 2022/23 I increased funding to improve call handling performance, and
it has worked. Building on existing investment I made previously, an
additional 35 staff are in public contact roles which have helped to
reduce abandonment rates and seen answering times for 101 and 999 improve
significantly.” (Page 21)

“A key point of investment was in the Force Control Centre, in response to
feedback from the public, particularly relating to the 101 non-emergency
service. Significant funding was put in to increase the available
resources and improve staff retention, with a clear improvement for the
public.” (Page 38).

In a [6]news article published on the Commissioner’s website (dated 28
February 2024), the Commissioner stated:

“People expect their police service to pick up the phone quickly, get to
them promptly when needed, and to have more officers out in the community.
It’s my job to hold the police to account where they can improve and so I
have constantly impressed this upon the Chief Constable. I am pleased to
see the public’s needs reflected in improved performance.”

Please note that the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner is an
independent office consisting of politically restricted staff who support
the elected Police & Crime Commissioner, whoever they are, in achieving
the priorities set out in the Police & Crime Plan. It must remain neutral
in the pre-election period and, therefore, any queries regarding a
candidate’s policy or position on issues should be sent directly to their
campaign contact, details of which are detailed via the ‘Who is Standing’
section on a dedicated election page:
[7]www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/election-2024.

If you are not satisfied with the decision applied in this response, you
have the right to request an internal review. I attach for your
information the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire
internal review procedure.

Kind Regards,

Matt

Matt Walton | Principal Governance & Compliance Officer

Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner

Cheshire Constabulary HQ | Clemonds Hey | Oakmere Road | Winsford | CW7
2UA

[8][email address] | 01606 364000

[9]A close-up of a logo Description automatically generated

Website: [10]www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk

Register for updates: [11]Commissioner’s Newsletter

Police activity in your area: [12]Cheshire Police Alert

[13][IMG][14][IMG] [15][IMG] [16][IMG] [17][IMG][18][IMG]

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