HC Deb 09 March 2004 vol 418 c1463W
Mr. Stephen O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average police response time to(a) grade one emergency 999 calls and (b) other 999 calls is, broken down by region; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure the effective prioritisation of 999 calls. [158844]

Ms Blears

This information is not collected centrally. Responsibility for prioritising calls and deciding the most appropriate time to respond to 999 calls lie with the chief officer in each police force area. However, the vast majority of forces are committed to attending to calls requiring an immediate response within 10 minutes for urban areas and 20 minutes for rural areas.