§ Martin LintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of 999 calls made in London over the past 12 months were dealt with by the police as emergencies; how many were made accidentally from mobile phones; what discussions he has had with mobile phone service providers; and if he will make a statement. [12320]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis informs me that, out of 1,908,097 calls, 21 per cent. were graded as immediate emergency response calls; 18 per cent. of 999 calls made in London in the last 12 months were accidentally made from mobile phones.
The Metropolitan Police Service has been in discussions with the mobile phone service providers since January 1999 in order to discuss how best to put into place a system which will help prevent silent emergency calls.
In addition, the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) have been working together to address the issue of inadvertent silent 999 calls from mobile phones.
British Telecom and Cable and Wireless carry all emergency 999/112 calls. Following a successful trial with the metropolitan police, ACPO have arranged for British Telecom and Cable and Wireless to route all silent 999 calls for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland through a switch that engages a recorded message. This message states that the emergency services have been called, but that no voice connection has been detected, and that the number '5' on the keypad should be pressed twice if the emergency services are required.
This service came into effect nationally on 1 October 2001 and will remove silent calls that were previously routed to police command and control rooms throughout 92W the country. These accounted for approximately 20 per cent. of all 999 calls and their removal will improve the efficiency of control rooms and their ability to deal with genuine emergency calls.
Oftel are currently working with manufacturers to improve the design of mobile phones to reduce problems. These changes should be introduced from 2003 onwards. Interim solutions are being sought from manufacturers to provide specific key protection around the '9' and '1' keys to prevent accidental activation.
§ Martin LintonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to charge people for accidentally calling 999; and if he will make a statement. [12319]
§ Mr. DenhamWe have no plans to introduce a charge for accidentally calling 999.