Survey launched to discover wait times when people call police on 101 in Milton Keynes

Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber says he is “determined” to improve the service after complaints from frustrated members of the public.

"I want to the public to be reporting more to the police in order to make the police response more effective, but if people lack confidence in the service this becomes less likely,” he said.

“Although we have seen some improvements in recent years, the public rightly has high expectations and getting this service right is vital to ensuring public confidence.”

Mr Barber said the 101 number is the core to non-emergency reporting, despite the fact that more people are choosing to report incidents online.

"In the majority of cases calls to 101 are answered in a timely fashion but I am only too well aware of the frustration to members of the public when they can’t get through as quickly as they should reasonably expect.”

Recently national figures show the Thames Valley force responds well in dealing with emergency 999 calls, with 83% of them answered in less than 10 seconds. However, this is still below the national target of 90%.

Mr Barber said: “The force performs well in dealing with 999 calls, but I continue to expect the Chief Constable to deliver better performance on 101.

“As part of this process of improvement I am supporting a national survey designed to understand more about the public’s experience when contacting their local police forces.”

The survey, run by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, asks people to describe their experiences of the 101 and 999 services, as well as preferences for future modes of contact.

It also questions people about as well as newly emerging ways of contacting the police, such as web chat, online forms and messaging over social media.

Called the Police Contact Survey, it can be accessed here until July 24.

"As the voice of the public in policing, I want to better understand your views on these issues and am urging as many people as possible to respond to the survey,” said Mr Barber.