Almost half of the 101 calls to Sussex Police are expected to be made online by 2025

Tuesday, 29 March 2022 17:44

By Karen Dunn - Local Democracy Reporter

The forecast was shared by Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne during a meeting of the Police and Crime Panel on Friday (March 25).

While answering a question about the contact centre, in Lewes, she said just over one-third of the non-emergency calls had been digital in 2021/22. The figure is expected to rise to 48 per cent in the next three years.

As for the performance of the centre, Mrs Bourne said more than £1m had been invested and the difference was ‘really showing’.

Four years ago, the average waiting time for a 101 call to be answered was almost 18 minutes – a problem reflected in the number of complaints which flooded into Mrs Bourne’s postbag.

Now the waiting time is four minutes 25 seconds – and she told the meeting that complaints were now very rare. Between April 2021 and January 2022, some 227,555 calls were dealt with.

Mrs Bourne added: “Sussex Police is probably different to many other forces in the country where the 101 non-emergency number actually has a really good response time.”

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services is due to carry out a police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) assessment of the force later this year.

The last assessment, in 2018/19, brought ‘good’ ratings for the force’s effectiveness in reducing crime and keeping people safe and for the way in which it treated the public and its workforce.

The extent to which the force operates efficiently and sustainably was rated ‘requires improvement’.

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