More questions over 111 system

National's Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power, says Police still cannot tell the public how quickly they can physically respond to emergency calls, three years after the Government's review into the system had supposedly fixed the problems.

He is commenting after two recent incidents, when it took police more than an hour to respond to a 111 call after an intruder was found in a six-year-old girl's bedroom, and 43 hours after an operator had hung up on a person reporting a knifepoint attack at a dairy.

"This is not good enough.

"Since the report into the 111 system in 2005, Police have put a lot of money into building up the communication centres and developing a non-emergency phone line.

"But the public still doesn't know how well the system is working because the Police themselves have no idea what their response times are.

"There has been no information on response times for three years because they are still waiting for a new reporting system.

"It was due to be completed before the end of September last year got pushed back to the end of the year, and is now not due back until June 30 this year.

"How can the public be assured that response times to priority 1 calls are improving when the Police can't be held accountable for the past three years?

"The Police Minister must reassure the public that this information will be forthcoming as quickly as possible."


Answers to parliamentary questions

6606 (2007). Chester Borrows to the Minister of Police (20 Apr 2007): How many P1 events were there for each year for which information is available?

Police Minister Annette King replied: I am advised that the information available for the number of P1 events has only been compiled and reported by Police for the fiscal years ending 30 June 2004, when 88,463 P1 events were recorded, and 30 June 2005, when 97,871 P1 events were recorded. The member should note that these numbers include events in non-urban areas as well as traffic emergencies.

9132 (2007). Chester Borrows to the Minister of Police (29 May 2007): Further to her response to question for written answer 6606 (2007), what are the figures for the year ending 30 June 2006, specified by district; if this is not yet available, when will it become available?

Police Minister Annette King replied: I am advised that Police are still developing the new reporting system that gives information about police response to both emergency and non-emergency incidents. Police anticipate that the information the member requests will be available after this reporting system is completed. Police currently expect to complete this reporting system some time before the end of September 2007.

15128 (2007). Chester Borrows to the Minister of Police (28 Aug 2007): Further to her response to question for written answer 9132 (2007), has the new reporting system been completed; if so, what are the updated figures as requested in the question?

Police Minister Annette King replied: No. I am advised that Police are still developing the new reporting system that gives information about police response to emergency and non-emergency incidents. The project is expected to be completed before the end of 2007 but the timeline is currently being reviewed.