Changes promised as South Yorkshire Police look to improve performance on answering 101 calls

New computer equipment costing millions of pounds has been installed at the force’s Atlas Court communications centre but it is acknowledged that is not enough to cope with the volume of calls staff have to deal with.

A review of how the centre operates has been going on for months and a business plan is expected to be ready for Chief Constable Steven Watson and his senior commanders to consider next month.

It comes after the force, which gets an average of more than 600 999 calls a day and 1,700 to its 101 service, has faced heavy criticism for the performance of its communications centre over the last two years.

The review will set out the available options, with the expectation the force will look for a ‘middle ground’ which provides an improved service without costing so much it would mean spending cash that is really needed to maintain front line services.

Mr Watson said: “Public contact with police is really important. There is an ongoing review into Atlas Court that is coming to an end.

“A business case is expected to land with us within the month. It will provide a number of options around service delivery."

The Chief Constable admitted the force faced difficulties with "balancing resources and demand".

He said: “We have invested heavily in technology. We have to work a lot smarter within that environment, we have already seen quite a bit of improvement. Abandonment rates are falling, response times are improving.

“The reality is if you take the requirement for optimum performance at a time of maximum demand, we would need to resource the room with another 132 call handlers.

“Clearly, we don’t have those resources. We have, within the business case, to work out a middle way between expending money we don’t have and investing sensibly to fund better performance in the room."

That reached the point where officers were instructed not to give their personal numbers to crime victims, forcing them to call 101 instead and unwittingly adding to a snowball effect of increasing call numbers which reached a climax over the last few years, with complaints of extended delays for those wanting to get in touch.

Mr Watson said: “A lot of calls coming into Atlas Court are people asking about what happened with their crime, when they should be contacting the police officer.

“That would reduce demand and improve public satisfaction."

Work has now started to reverse that situation, with officers encouraged to promote direct contact with the public for follow up calls to existing incidents.

*A ‘call back’ facility has been introduced, similar to services used by other Yorkshire forces, to try to ease the burden on its overstretched call centre and reduce the risk of frustrated callers hanging up instead of talking to police as they would expect to do.

Changes to the technology at the Atlas Court communications centre have allowed the change to be implemented, but it is only used at times of high demand.

Police officers responsible for managing the Atlas Court centre, and the force’s response to calls from the public, are able to switch the system on at times of high demand.