Vince Cable

The government police minister (Hazel Blears) told Twickenham MP Vincent Cable in parliament on Monday that the government is introducing a national police enquiry service to ease the problem of residents who cannot get through to local police stations to report crime and seek help on a non-emergency basis.

Vincent Cable said that: "the local police have frankly acknowledged that the telephone service is very poor, is undermining public confidence and is leading to an under recording of crime".

"There are plans to upgrade the local exchange by the end of 2006 but the Minister's reply to me suggests an altogether more efficient system which separates out the large numbers of calls which the police should not be dealing with - from people with psychiatric problems or just looking for information".

Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham) (LD): Does the Minister accept that there is a distinction between 999 calls, where the service is usually good, and non-emergency calls, where it is often abysmal, to the extent that large numbers of criminal offences are never reported or recorded? Will she investigate in particular the position in London, where we are told that in large parts of the capital it may be two years before anything can be done to have an even half-decent reporting system for non-emergency calls?

Ms Blears: This is an important area. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that we are now working on plans for a single national non-emergency service. It is apparent that many of the calls that go to the police would be better dealt with by local authorities-community psychiatric nurses, for example, if there is a problem in the community. We want to try to ensure that calls to the non-emergency number are channelled to the right people at the right time, so that there can be a much quicker response. We are making significant progress on that national non-emergency number. Responsiveness and call handling are an absolute top priority for the public, and that is why we are working on national standards, which will be in place everywhere in the country by the end of 2006. Every force, including London, will be expected to comply with those standards.