New 999 system for London to combat growing demand

29/01
11 May 2001

The Metropolitan Police Authority today agreed to pursue an option that will aim to provide the Metropolitan Police with a new command and control system that will cope with the large increase in the number of 999 calls made to police across London.

Following discussion on the feasibility of five options, members of the authority voted to adopt Option 8, which, once funding issues are resolved, would provide borough designated dispatching from three centralised locations.

These are likely to be Hendon, in the north of London, Lambeth, south, and Bow Road, east, centralising all call handling including 999 and non-999 switchboard calls.

In a report to the authority, members were told that Option 8 was the least expensive option in terms of revenue and additional capital required. The total cost of the option is estimated at £1.7 billion over the lifetime of the system.

MPA Chair, Toby Harris, said:

‘This option is clearly the most cost-effective solution to developing a system that will meet the very considerable demands on the 999 function over the next 15 - 20 years.

‘There are obviously issues to address with regard to funding of the project, redeployment of officers, an increase in civilian staff numbers and the costs involved. But this is an area where we need to press ahead as quickly as possible.

‘The people of London expect police response times to be fast and reliable and this system will provide them with that service.’

The project team will now develop a detailed design of the solution including buildings, technology, service delivery and procurement.

Notes to editors

The Metropolitan Police Authority took over responsibility for the Metropolitan Police Service from the Home Secretary on 3 July 2000.

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