London 101

Report: 11
Date: 31 January 2008
By: Operational Services on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

The use of the telephone number 101 as an alternative to 999 emergency calls and as a means of providing citizens with improved access to services, has been developed as a Home Office project at various sites throughout the country. The MPS has been involved in long running and detailed negotiation to implement 101 in London. The Home Office funding for the development of a second phase is no longer available. This report outlines a partnership led initiative to offer the use of this number in three Boroughs in London. The pilot will seek to prove whether the benefits of this number are applicable and relevant to Londoners. It will also inform the debate as to how this will be a cost effective means of improving citizens access to services.

A. Recommendation

That

1. the report be received:

2. note the partnership arrangements within the project.

3. note this initiative is in keeping with the MPS’s drive towards improving citizen focus; and

4. further details of the outcome of the project be reported in due course.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The MPS has been in ongoing discussions over the last two years with partner agencies (GLA, LFEPA, TFL, Local Authorities) about its participation in a project to use the 101 number in London.

2. 101 is designed to be an alternative means of allowing citizens to gain access to public services. The Home Office have conducted a series of pilots throughout the country to understand how this concept works (Wave 1). The MPS had originally bid for inclusion in the second phase of the pilots, (Wave 2). The Home Office has decided not to continue funding for the second phase.

3. This report outlines the work that is now taking place to set up a small pilot in London. This is designed to assess whether all the undoubted benefits of the use of this number will be available and relevant to Londoners. The intention is to examine the outcome of this pilot, and look to see if it is applicable throughout London. This project is a joint partnership with other agencies.

4. GLA has allocated funding of £250k for a 6-month pilot in London. The details of the pilot will be set out in a project initiation document, which will be submitted to the Mayor and to the London partnership board by end of February 2008. A project team, consisting of staff from TfL, GLA, Home Office and Cable and Wireless will produce the PID in consultation with participating Boroughs and members of the London 101 partnership board.

5. The London partnership has members from MPA, London Councils, MPS, LFEPA, TfL, GLA, NHS, London Connects, Cabinet Office and the Home Office.

Vision

6. A key vision for London is to become one of the safest and most accessible cities in the world. A key step in delivering an accessible London and enhancing the safety of citizens is the unification of services online, accessible by phone and under one umbrella address through a single telephone number and available in a range of languages. Worldwide best practice examples of the adoption of this model include New York, Berlin, Singapore and Amsterdam.

7. A service provided in this way has the additional benefit of freeing up 999 calls for emergencies (work already done on the initial 101 project showed that approximately 48% of current calls to 999 in London are non emergency calls). Having a single number to ring about any public authority issue will increase individuals ability to easily report a range of issues, which impact, on safety and the perception of safety and enables public services to be far more accessible.

Benefits

8. The benefits of the pilot are:

• It allows Londoners to report issues whenever it is convenient for them
• 101 is an easy to remember number
• It gives Londoners better access to services 24/7
• It gives access for those not familiar with computer technology or the Internet
• It has potential as a platform to deliver key messages during a major event (e.g. recorded message advising people not to travel)
• From the MPS and other emergency services perspective there is a reduction in the use of 999 for non-emergency calls

Details of the pilot

9. The following points outline the details of the pilot:

• A 6-month pilot project for a single non-emergency number to be carried out in London (starting with one Borough and expanding to three)
• The report from this pilot will support the business case for the implementation of a Single Non Emergency Number (SNEN) across London
• Wave 2 Governance has been applied for the pilot phase. Stakeholders include GLA, TfL, MPS, MPA, London Councils, the three Boroughs taking part, Home Office, Cabinet Office and the NHS. (The project board is chaired by Commander Simon Foy)
• The budget approved for the pilot is £250,000. This funding will be used for call handling staff and project management support only. Costs for the set-up, infrastructure and call costs are being covered by Cable & Wireless (+/-£180k), Boroughs and GLA group members have committed staff time at no additional cost to the project
• Local Communication, marketing and publicity will publicise the availability and criteria for use of the number

10. The pilot will run on the following three Boroughs:

• Waltham Forest (Which will be the first Borough to begin this work by early March 2008)
• Barking and Dagenham
• Newham

11. The following four incident types, have been identified as the areas that 101 will apply to:

• Graffiti
• Fly-tipping
• Abandoned vehicles
• Noise

12. Calls received by the Borough which are police matters (e.g. should actually be 999 calls) – will be forwarded to the CCC centre in Bow.

Success criteria

13. Success will be measured by examining

• Usage
• Customer satisfaction
• Informed reporting – linked into LASS
• Integration/relationship with Out of Hours project work that has begun in a number of boroughs – including the boroughs in the first phase of London 101

C. Race and equality impact

1. Provision of service through contact centres has to be capable of fair and equitable service. 101 in London will initially be received by a local authority, call centre, taking into account the provision made for access through different languages and hearing difficulties. Call handlers are trained to deal with all aspects of the callers requirements. Similarly those calls forwarded to the MPS will be received by one of the Central Communications Command centres, which also have the required standards for access.

2. This report is submitted to update the MPA of this development. Further information / detail on the progress and impact of the pilot will be given in due course.

D. Financial implications

Start up funding for the project is being provided by the GLA with infrastructure and call costs absorbed by Cable and Wireless. The licence rate to use the 101 number will remain in place for a further two years. There is potential financial benefit to the MPS in the form of reduced 999 calls – although this may be balanced against the cost of increased non-emergency calls, which are appropriate for the police to deal with and also as a consequence of increased and improved access.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Commander Simon Foy, MPS

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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