Response times

Report: 15
Date: 12 February 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report provides information on response times and examines changes in response times and how the changes are being addressed.

A. Recommendations

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

1. The table below summarises the most recent performance data on response times. It should be noted that the Policing plan 2003/04 did not set any targets in relation to response times.

2. Against a background of 3 percent rise in demand (equivalent to 136,000 additional “immediate” or I calls and “soonest” or S calls), there has been a decline in the percentage of:

• respondents satisfied with police action in response to 999 calls
• immediate incident responded to within 12 minutes

Reasons for decline in performance

3. An analysis of I calls reveals that no one particular borough emerges as being the major contributor to poor response to I-calls (Appendix 1).

4. Response to S-calls (target within 1 hours) is shown in the graph below. S calls account for around 20 percent of the total volume of calls, and the graph indicates that performance is slipping for this type of call.

Chart 1: Proportion of ‘S-calls’ reached within one hour target (see supporting material)

5. Increase proportion of probationers may also account for some of the decline in satisfaction. The chart below shows that in the space of 20 months has increased from one out of every five officers to just under one in three.

Chart 2: Proportion of probationers within MPS (see supporting material)

6. HMIC have commented that specific response types and target times had a purpose when first introduced.

Action plan to remedy the performance in response times

7. Following a recent review of Demand management, a number of recommendations were made:

8. Develop a new MPS call grading and deployment policy. The introduction of this policy is unlikely to begin until 2005 but it should be stressed that any change in call grading will have to be in line with both ‘Metcall’ and the C3i project.

9. This new policy should improve assessment of demand, increase the accuracy of call grading and make more appropriate deployments. There is a need to reduce the percentage of calls requiring an urgent response and increase the resolved without a response team deployment. An objective must be to providing control room staff with the confidence to make more appropriate deployments.

10. Clarify ownership of policy. The MPS Demand Management Strategic Committee should own the MPS Call Grading and Deployment Manual. Regular reviews should be responsibility of Territorial Policing.

11. The benefits will be that there is clear ownership of the call grading manual. Regularly reviews of the contents and relevance to service objectives will take place. There will be a clearly defined line of communication between stakeholders, which will provide an increased opportunity for continuous improvement.

12. Development of better measures. The MPS Corporate Planning Unit devises a suite of performance measures, which avoids perverse incentives and which evaluates the quality of response to incidents. These to be brought in April 2004, subject to agreement from TPHQ and Management Board.

13. Average response time to all immediate calls would compliment existing public satisfaction measurements. There needs to be a move away from a pass or fail performance indicator towards a measurement of total performance.

14. In summary, the new performance measures of call grading management are about internal performance and compliance with new objectives - to measure average response times and reducing the number of immediate graded incidents. The MPS will develop new management information about response performance (number of incidents requiring a deployment, number of units deployed and reducing the number of 'I' graded incidents) in the future.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The purpose of this report is to propose better service in relation to response times that will serve all of London’s population. As a result no one ethnic group emerges as receiving a better/poorer service.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising from this report.

E. Background papers

• Graded Response Policy, Managing Demand, Best Value Review Team, Chief Inspector Wisbey

F. Contact details

Report author: Lawrence Morris, Corporate Performance Group, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback