HL Deb 09 June 1999 vol 601 cc165-6WA
Lord Campbell of Croy

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What proportion of emergency calls requiring a police car to attend a scene speedily in the last six months for which figures are available have proved to be false alarms:

  1. (a) in the Metropolitan Police area;
  2. (b) in the rest of England and Wales; and
  3. (c) in Scotland. [HL2758]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Some 703,000 calls to the Metropolitan Police required immediate response during 1997–98, and some 1,978,000 in the rest of England and Wales; but information on the proportion of false alarms, which would be difficult to define with precision, is not available centrally for England and Wales. The information requested is not collected in Scotland. In Scottish forces emergency calls are prioritised on their receipt but the police do not differentiate between calls answered by vehicle or by officers on foot.