13/2021 Force Control Room extraordinary demand funding

DN 13/2021

The Commissioner has decided to provide the Chief Constable with £139,000 in funding to support delivery during a period of unprecedented demand. £69,000 will fund immediate overtime requirements, with an additional £70,000 being made available on request should further action be required until the end of October.

Background

North Yorkshire Police has seen an unprecedented level of demand for services from the public. May saw the highest number of 999 calls in May on record at 8203. June’s number of 999 calls rose to 8984 from a normal June average (4 years data) of 7232. BT have indicated that they expect the national level of 999 calls being experienced to continue across the summer. Throughout July, we are receiving a daily average of 297 with some days reaching 380 calls. A four – year daily average during the summer would be 249 calls.

This is impacting call handling performance and therefore on public engagement and satisfaction. A longer-term improvement plan is being developed, but in the short-term the Commissioner has agreed a funding uplift to support the FCR through the anticipated busy summer period.

This will provide at the busiest times (14:00-02:00 Sunday to Thursday and 15:00-03:00 Friday and Saturdays):

• Up to an additional 6 FTE call handlers through overtime (£49k); and
• An additional 2 dispatchers through overtime (£10k).

The increase in calls has seen an increase in crimes to be recorded up to an average of 180 crimes per day from an average 150. The funding will also provide an additional 40 crime recording and occurrence management shifts through overtime across the summer period to stay on top of the additional volume (£10k).

To support the Chief Constable in addressing this issue and to mitigate against continued increases in call volume, the Commissioner has determined to ear-mark an additional £70,000 over the next 3 months as accessible funding on request should this be required urgently. The requirement for this available funding will be reviewed at the end of October and the Commissioner expects to see proposals brought forward through the next round of budget setting to ensure the longer-term sustainability of the FCR.

This funding will be provided from the Service’s underspend from the 2020/21 budget.

Decision Record

The Commissioner has decided to provide the Chief Constable with £139,000 in funding to support delivery during a period of unprecedented demand. £69,000 will fund immediate overtime requirements, with an additional £70,000 being made available on request should further action be required until the end of October.

Philip Allott

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

Statutory Officer Advice

Legal, Management and Equality Implications

The Commissioner’s Interim Chief Executive and Deputy Monitoring Officer, on behalf of the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, having read this report and having considered such information as has been provided at the time of being asked to express this view, is satisfied that this report does not ask the Commissioner to make a decision which would (or would be likely to) give rise to a contravention of the law.

Financial and Commercial

The Commissioner’s Chief Finance Officer and S151 Officer has advised that the funding is available to support this additional capacity from the use of underspends that materialised during 2020/21. It is important to ensure that the work required to ensure a stable and appropriately resourced Force Control is completed in time for setting the 2022/23 budget so that this can be considered alongside other pressure that the Force may have.

Additional Information

Decision Notice 13/2021 Force Control Room extraordinary demand funding