§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ensure that emergency calls dialling 999 from Essex addresses are routed to Essex police. [143665]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeArrangements for the day-to-day policing of an area, including the handling of emergency calls to police force incident rooms, are operational matters and, as such, the responsibility of the chief officer of the force concerned. Emergency calls within a police force area should normally be routed to the appropriate police force by the telephone service operator, and every effort is made to ensure that this is the case.
I understand that problems may arise when mobile phones are used to make emergency calls. When an emergency call is made on an mobile phone the service provider identifies the location as precisely as possible and directs the call to the police area from which they understand the call to have emanated. If the signal is received in a different policing area, the caller may be put through to the wrong switchboard.
Although this problem is less likely to occur when calls are made on land-line phones, it may occur when calls are made from addresses on the borders between two police areas. When calls are routed to the incorrect switchboard for any reason, the protocol is that the receiving police force will take details and pass them to the appropriate force as quickly as possible. This practice has been developed over several years and normally works very effectively.
When a force is particularly hard pressed following a major incident, arrangements may be made for new emergency calls to be routed to a neighbouring force.
Some parts of Greater London have Essex postal addresses, although they are in the area for which the Metropolitan police are responsible.
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations closed in Essex in each year since 1997. [143666]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) on 13 November 2000,Official Report, column 539W.