A ‘SIGNIFICANT’ package of improvements designed to boost the police’s under fire 101 phone reporting system are now in place - although a date for its launch is still unclear.
Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, revealed this week that the delayed new IT software - which was commissioned at a cost of £16m to address long-running issues with response times - is being tested to iron out glitches before it goes live.
According to a police source, Atlas Court, which was set up in 2010 to deal with all of the force’s 999 and 101 reports, received under 300,000 callers in its first year - that’s now around 850,000.
“A lot of money has been spent on improving the 101 and in particular its call-taking responsiveness,” Dr Billings told the Chronicle. “It has been a constant source of concern for several years now but the new system is in place.
“It has been one of our top priorities because of the public’s concerns with it. The new system is done, but it is important that it is tested as IT systems have a habit of crashing. As yet we do not have an official launch date.
“It simply has to be right before it goes live to the public. Hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later, as there would be nothing worse if it crashed.
“Clearly the old system couldn’t go on and I hope callers note big improvements when the new system, which is much more sophisticated, is launched.”
The new system, which was due to be launched in the spring, has been tailored to ease the process at Atlas Court, where all phone calls go, and which has struggled to cope with the volume.
Other measures to improve the service include ending a contract to deal with Sheffield City Council’s out-of-hours calls and investing cash to overhaul outdated IT infrastructure.
Both were cited as reasons why people were facing long delays, although the issue reared its head again last weekend, much to callers’ dismay, who endured 20-minute waits for their reports to be answered.
PC Ashleigh Jefferies, who is based at Churchfield station in Barnsley town centre, revealed that long waits were encountered on Saturday, which saw South Yorkshire Police issue a post on its social media channels to ask people to use its online reporting service instead.
PC Jefferies said: “I was at Atlas Court and it was ridiculous. Callers were annoyed and I can understand why. At one point I saw a 17-minute wait and clearly that isn’t good enough.”
Call abandonment rate, latest figures say, is at 10.8 per cent - a figure refuted by Barnsley councillors and residents who have blasted the service at recent police meetings.
Coun Charlie Wraith, who represents the Cudworth ward, added: “It’s a problem that’s been going on for far too long. The thing that’s really annoying is that residents are wanting to give information to police, yet they are often unable to do it.
“Everyone in Barnsley is fed up of ringing it and waiting for a long time, so it’s very important that these promised improvement works are carried out.
“It’s the only way as the technology that was working with the volume of calls 101 generated in 2010 is no longer able to.”
