Flanagan attacks 101 cash decision
Feb 8 2008 by Graeme Whitfield, The Journal
THE Government has come under fire from its own chief adviser on crime for withdrawing funding from the 101 non-emergency service.
The service was piloted in the Northumbria Police area and four other parts of the country, but had its funding withdrawn last month, even though it was strongly backed by police, councils and pensioners’ groups.
Now Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, has praised the 101 service and described the Home Office decision to take away funds as regrettable.
His comments received support from people in the North East, who said the 101 service had proved a vital lifeline for residents battling anti-social behaviour and low-level nuisance in their communities.
Last night senior Newcastle councillor Anita Lower said: “I wholeheartedly agree with Sir Ronnie Flanagan. It’s exactly what we’ve been saying.
“I can only hope that someone will take notice, not just of what councils are saying but now a respected authority who understands how policing works. It’s lamentable that the Government hasn’t listened.”
The Northumbria 101 line covered Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, serving a population of 1.4m.
It was launched in July 2006 as an alternative to the emergency 999 service, with people encouraged to call 101 to get help with problems such as drunken and rowdy behaviour, harassment, noisy neighbours, graffiti, fly tipping and vandalism.
More than 100,000 people called the 24-hour hotline in the first year and it proved popular with pensioners’ groups, but funding was withdrawn from the local services when the Home Office said it was up to the individual regions to pay for it themselves.
In a report on the future of policing in England – which also called for the number of police to be reduced and civilian staff employed to carry out many administrative tasks – Sir Ronnie yesterday praised the success of the 101 trials.
He said: “From the point of view of developing an effective neighbourhood management approach, the decision taken in November 2007 was regrettable.
“The single non-emergency number has acted as a catalyst for effective partnership working, bringing partners together to work on projects which require them to co-operate with one another and also provided clear evidence of the mutual benefits which this type of working could generate for the individual organisations and the public.
“It has also helped to recalibrate public expectations by giving a clear signal that some issues and problems were best dealt with outside policing and has facilitated beneficial co-operation in the areas of data sharing and information technology.”
In his recommendations, Sir Ronnie has given the Government six months to reproduce the partnership working of the 101 project.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We acknowledge the many benefits achieved by the five 101 areas and will continue to provide funding for the national 101 telephone infrastructure to ensure that the number remains available for use by local areas wishing to maintain or develop their own locally-funded 101 service.
“We will also make available the lessons learned and good practice that has been developed.
“However, it is vital that we target our resources to those areas which will have the greatest impact and which will contribute most to the protection of the public and security of the country.”
To read previous stories about the 101 service, click the links below
999 or 101, is it an emergency or not?
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