101 Phone Line (Waiting Times)

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 December 2021.

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Photo of Murdo Fraser Murdo Fraser Conservative

8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce waiting times for people calling Police Scotland’s non-emergency 101 phone line. (S6O-00565)

Photo of Keith Brown Keith Brown Scottish National Party

A s the member will be aware, delivery of the police 101 service is a matter for Police Scotland. Police Scotland has played, and continues to play, a crucial role in protecting our communities through the pandemic, and it has, alongside all sectors, been impacted by its own Covid-related absences.

I meet regularly with the chief constable, who updates me on the contingency plan to ensure that calls to 999 continue to be answered in less than 10 seconds, and that resilience plans are in place to meet the peak in calls to the 101 line at this extremely busy time.

Photo of Murdo Fraser Murdo Fraser Conservative

We are all conscious of the impact that Covid has had across the public service, but even before the pandemic I heard many concerns from constituents about the time that it took for them to get a response on the 101 non-emergency service. Those concerns will have simply been highlighted and extended as a result of the current situation with Covid. Is the justice secretary engaging with Police Scotland on the possibility of bringing in more resource for the 101 number to ensure that people are not having to wait—in some cases, for half an hour or more—for the phone to be answered?

Photo of Keith Brown Keith Brown Scottish National Party

I engage with Police Scotland—I spoke to the chief constable about the issue as recently as last week. The deployment of resources in the police service is, of course, a matter for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority, and they are doing exactly what Murdo Fraser suggested in allocating more resource.

The member is right to raise his concerns, and I know that he has engaged directly with the police on the issue. However, I point to the more recent figures, for October this year, which show that there has been a substantial improvement.

It is worth bearing in mind that the function of Police Scotland’s 101 service is often to pick up calls that would normally go to other agencies—in many cases, local authorities or care services. Police Scotland has to cope with that additional burden at the same time as the Covid-related absences that I mentioned. Nevertheless, I will continue to discuss the matter with Police Scotland, and I am sure that it will have heard Murdo Fraser’s suggestion today.