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  4. Appendix 1 – Breakdown of calls to Police Scotland

Annual report 2023-24

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  • HMICS Annual Report 2023 24
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Annual reports

25th September 2024

This report outlines how HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) has carried out its statutory function for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Additional

  • Annual report 2023-24
  • HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland
  • Introduction by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland
  • HMICS’s vision, purpose, objectives and values – our plan on a page
  • Approach to scrutiny
  • Scrutiny activity during 2023-24
  • Assessing the outcomes from our activities
  • Facts and figures
  • Appendix 1 – Breakdown of calls to Police Scotland
  • Appendix 2 – Current issues affecting Police Scotland – from recorded crime and performance reports
  • Sources

  • Annual report 2023-24
  • HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland
  • Introduction by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland
  • HMICS’s vision, purpose, objectives and values – our plan on a page
  • Approach to scrutiny
  • Scrutiny activity during 2023-24
  • Assessing the outcomes from our activities
  • Facts and figures
  • Appendix 1 – Breakdown of calls to Police Scotland
  • Appendix 2 – Current issues affecting Police Scotland – from recorded crime and performance reports
  • Sources

Appendix 1 – Breakdown of calls to Police Scotland

This year saw a significant change to incoming calls to the service centres.

Table 1 – Call handling statistics

Total calls

Totals 999 calls

Total 101 calls

Average answer time YTD – 999 calls

Average answer time YTD – 101 calls

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Online reports

2,191,059

814,980

1,376,079

9 seconds

5 minutes 33 seconds

193,155

116,379

Table 2 – 999 and 101 calls records

YTD

PYTD

% change

Total number of calls

2,191,059

2,184,926

0.3%

Total number of 999 calls

814,980

741,801

9.9%

Total number of 101 calls

1,376,079

1,443,125

-4.6%

This shows changes from the previous year with a slight increase of incoming calls (0.3%) but this is based on a significant increase of 999 calls (9.9%). These calls are often more complex and require more police input to resolve the matter. Thus, for a relatively small increase in overall call volume, there is likely to have been a significant increase in demand for frontline services.

Police Scotland has continued to answer 999 calls within the 10 second target and has not seen significant change to the low number of dropped 999 calls (table 3 below), but there has been slippage on the average time to answer a non-emergency call. The increase in emergency calls suggests a reduction in capacity to deal with non-emergency (101) calls: the volume of 101 calls answered has decreased by almost five per cent, and the time it takes to answer 101 calls has increased by almost a quarter in the past year. This impact on non emergency calls may have a corresponding effect on public confidence and preventative work. When first considered, the 101 service was designed as a public service call where the caller could be directed to whichever service best met their needs – whether that was a local authority, health, police or other service. On implementation, the only service that adopted 101 was policing, leading to the other services being less involved in genuine public demand.

Table 3 – Average answer time for 999 and 101 calls

Average answer time YTD

Average answer time PYTD

% change

999 calls

9 seconds

9 seconds

0.0%

101 calls

5 minutes 33 seconds

4 minutes 27 seconds

24.7%

Figure 3 – Dropped 999 calls from April 2022 to June 2024
Line chart representing dropped 999 calls from April 2022 to June 2024
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Appendix 2 – Current issues affecting Police Scotland – from recorded crime and performance reports
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