FOI Call Handling Response Times 0323-2024/25

Q1. What was the longest time it took for police call handlers to answer a 999 call to the police service (each month)?

Q2. How many times did it take longer than 1 minute for police call handlers to answer a 999 call?

Q3. What is the minimum number of call handlers you would normally have on shift, and how many times was this breached? (i.e. the number of call handlers working fell below the minimum staffing requirement)

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.  

Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

Q1.  Please see table below showing the maximum 999 call wait time in the period January to July 2024, broken down by month:

Q2.  The information you have requested is publicly available using the following link: 999 performance data | Police.uk

I have therefore decided to exempt providing you with a response to Q2 pursuant to Section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).  Please see exemption explanation below.

Q3.  I am exempting disclosure of this information under Section 31 (Law Enforcement) of the Act.  Please see below exemption explanation.

Exemption Explanation

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means (Q2)

This exemption is applicable to Q2 of your request as it is information accessible to the applicant by other means.  Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.

Section 31 – Law Enforcement (Q3)
As you may be aware, disclosure under FOIA is a release to the public at large. Whilst not questioning the motives of the applicant, releasing any information held regarding the minimum call handling staff on shift and the number of times this was breached, would allow criminals to note what capacity the force had, potentially resulting in an increase in crime, thereby compromising law enforcement.  This would be to the detriment of providing an efficient policing service and a failure in providing a duty of care to all members of the public.

Section 31 is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and there is a requirement to articulate the harm as well as carrying out a public interest test.

Factors favouring disclosure under Section 31
It would show how public funds are being spent in relation to protecting the public.
Information would ensure transparency and accountability and enable the public to see what resources are deployed by the Police Service.

Factors against disclosure under Section 31
It has been recorded that FOIA releases are monitored by criminals and terrorists and so releasing information as to the minimum call handling staff on shift and the number of times this was breached would undermine and compromise law enforcement and it would also hinder any local, regional or national operations.

It can be argued that there are significant risks associated with providing information in relation to any aspects that can assist criminal planning, by releasing the information, may reveal the relative vulnerability of what we may be trying to protect.

The Police Service would not wish to reveal resource information that would undermine the law enforcement operations and would impact on police resources, as more crime would be committed because criminals/terrorists would know which forces had less/more capability. This in turn would place the public at a greater risk and a fear of crime would be realised, especially for more vulnerable areas.

Balance test
The security of the public and the country is of paramount importance and the Police Service will not divulge the resources, if to do so would place the safety of individuals at risk, due to providing freely available (single point) information under such requests and which in turn would undermine National Security or compromise law enforcement.

Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing resources and providing assurance that the police service is appropriately prepared and effectively engaging with the threat posed by various groups or individuals, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police resources and operations in the highly sensitive areas such as extremism, crime prevention, public disorder and terrorism prevention.

After considering the reasons for and against disclosure, it is my opinion that the reasons for non-disclosure outweigh the reasons for disclosure.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to part of your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.