WELCOME NEWS around improving call handling and response times for North Wales Police were highlighted during a recent visit by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Andy Dunbobbin and his Deputy Wayne Jones to the Force Communications Centre (FCC) in St. Asaph. Ensuring the best possible response times to contact from the public and to emergency incidents is a keystone of PCC Dunbobbin’s Police and Crime Plan for North Wales. It is also something the PCC is keen to build on with further investment in the coming years.
The Communications Centre is a joint operation with North Wales Fire & Rescue Service and sits next to North Wales Police’s Divisional HQ on St. Asaph Business Park, alongside the A55. The Communications Centre is at the heart of policing. It is where emergency calls into Police are handled and dispatched. The Centre also has Mental Health Nurses present to assist when calls come in from people in need. It is also an exceptionally busy place, with over 315,000 calls into the Communications Centre over a 12-month period, there is also contact through webchat and email channels which make a combined average total, per day, of approximately 1400 contacts.
There are approaching 120 communication operatives who work at the centre and cover 24hrs, 365 days a year. As a hotspot for tourism, the Force area sees demand increase significantly during public holidays and the warmer months.
During a meeting as part of their visit to the JCC, PCC Dunbobbin and DPCC Jones met Force Control Room Superintendent Alwyn Williams; Senior Force Incident Manager, Chief Inspector Kerry James; Deputy Call Centre Manager, Peris Hatton; and recently appointed Call Centre Manager, Dave McMahon.
The meeting was followed by a tour of the Communications Centre to see the staff in action. The team discussed how the most recent HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report into the Communications Centre had found the Force manages its demand effectively, with robust daily management and structures in place. However, the report also recognised that the Force needed to improve how quickly it responded to some incidents.
With this advice in mind, the management team at the Communications Centre have developed training and invested in new technology to ensure that calls are answered quicker, and that people are updated or called-back if there is a delay in attendance by the emergency services. Results from these measures are beginning to bear fruit. For example, performance in call backs to people reporting non urgent demand within an hour, as of December, was over 91%.
In December, the Force also reached its highest ever proportion of emergency calls answered within 10 seconds at 91% on the national measure, with an average answer time of 5.37 seconds – the lowest ever recorded.
The time it takes for an Officer to attend an incident has also improved, at just over 9 minutes, which for a Force area with a large rural hinterland is very good. The average time to answer for a 101 contact – an area of concern for many members of the public – is now 1 minute 13 seconds, against a target of below 3 minutes.
But this improving picture is by no means the end of work. Recent or planned investment in the call handling team includes 10 additional Communications Operatives and 6 Switchboard Operators, and more technology upgrades in the pipeline. Work is also continuing on reducing the pressure on resources from frequent callers who abuse the emergency 999 system, by working alongside partner agencies to offer support from the correct services, which are not necessarily from emergency services. The aim of all this work is to ensure that the people of North Wales receive the best and speediest policing service possible.
Superintendent Alwyn Williams said: “It was great to receive the Commissioner and team on their visit to us in the FCC. This is an area I am incredibly proud of, along with all my team who work diligently in a pressurised environment to provide an excellent service the public of North Wales.
“The department is unique to many other business call centres, in the fact that this in an ‘emergency’ call centre, and as such the resources will always be prioritised to those in greatest need of our assistance, we also offer this service bilingually across all our contact functions.
“A great deal of focus and evidence building has taken place of late and we are now starting to see the improvements we have been striving for. However, the journey is still ongoing with new enhancements in technology being explored, along with ongoing recruitment to join us in the North Wales Police family.”
PCC Andy Dunbobbin commented: “It was a pleasure to visit the FCC and to meet the hard-working team based there. They do an outstanding job under the toughest circumstances, getting calls from members of the public during what are often the most difficult and upsetting times in their lives.
“I thank the colleagues for all they do on our behalf. I was also heartened to hear of the improving response times at the centre and the fact that people are being answered and attended to quicker than ever.
“Response times, especially for the 101 service, are a key issue brought up with me by members of the public across the region. That’s why I included improving response as a core element of my Plan for fighting crime in North Wales.
“It’s important to note that people can also use the 101 and webchat services to contact Police or can see other ways of getting in touch on the North Wales Police website.
“Policing – and investment in areas like the FCC – is paid for by the taxes people pay and I want to ensure this money is spent effectively and wisely for the benefit of the public’s Police Service.
“While there’s always more that can be done, I am pleased with the steps underway at the FCC to ensure we are able to make North Wales the safest and most secure place in the UK to live in or visit.”
