Cardiff is somewhat unique in being one of five places in the UK to have its very own non-emergency number – 101. The service was set up in 2006 as a pilot along with four other UK regions, provided as a partnership between Cardiff Council and South Wales Police to report force-wide issues and council issues for Cardiff.
Now the service is used for policing matters only and has been rolled out across Wales. Ringing 101 allows you to report problems such as noisy neighbours or graffiti directly to the police without taking up operators' valuable time at 999. When it launched the service hoped to increase public accessibility to public services. Sounds wonderfully simple in theory, but the reality is many are finding the service isn't living up to scratch.
Complaints about the 101 service are a popular topic at partnerships and communities together meetings (PACT) across the whole of Cardiff. For issues ranging from anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, harassment to rubbish, residents are asked by councillors and their police officers to report problems to 101. But the reply from residents is they have tried to use 101, and they're not happy with it.
101 service a PACT hot topic
After reporting from a number of local PACT meetings, it seems the problems with 101 are spread indiscriminately across Cardiff – with complaints ranging from an unhelpful operator speaking to a resident intimidated by youths in Rumney, to this week residents in Cathays complaining cases reported had not been followed up properly.
Local police officer in Cathays Steph Samuel told residents at the PACT meeting she had asked for a representative from 101 to attend the meeting to deal with their complaints – but after attending a number of local PACT meetings across the city and being hounded by angry members of the public, no one was willing to come along. Speaking at the meeting Samuel said:
"I'm not happy with this, as the point of the meetings is to answer to questions and concerns."
Some people report the service isn't as good for those using Virgin mobiles, or sky networks. We're still waiting for this to be explained.
South Wales Police receives more than 100,000 calls a year to 101
In a freedom of information request put to South Wales Police it was revealed the service cost £1,132,462 to run in the last year, with 119,275 calls made to the service from April 2009- February 2010. At the time, South Wales Police said there were 43 operators in place to take care of calls.
In March 2008 the service was saved from closure. It was reported 230,000 calls had been received since its birth and a customer service rating of 90% or above. At the time the council and the police defended the need for 101 – and how it had become an integral part of their services. Peter Vaughan (then deputy) chief constable said:
"The 101 and 'Tasking' structure, combined with the shift of focus to Neighbourhood Policing has changed the way that policing works in Cardiff."
But it's been two years since the public outcry for the service to be kept, and the mood across Cardiff is some parts of the 101 service aren't joining up to give them the reassurance they need that a problem is being dealt with.
After contacting South Wales Police about the service, a spokesperson said the force are open to suggestions to make it better:
"The aim of having two phone numbers for the police in Wales is to make calling the police a lot easier - 999 for an emergency and 101 when you need to speak to the police and don't need an immediate response.
"Providing a single service hopefully improves customer service, but it is just one of the many ways that the public can contact us. We would always welcome any feedback and thoughts on how the service can be improved."
We've put in a freedom of information request to find out how many complaints have been made to South Wales Police and how many calls have been made to 101 in the last four years.
Now it's your chance to have your say. Tell us, what's wrong with 101?
