A watchdog which raised “serious concerns” about the Metropolitan Police’s handling of 999 and 101 calls is now praising the force’s “sustained and significant improvement” within two years.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services wrote to Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley and London mayor Sadiq Khan to confirm its findings.
The Met was found to be failing in several areas of its work and concerns were raised about how it identified vulnerability at the first point of contact.
In September 2022, inspectors discovered the force answered 63.9 per cent of 999 calls within 10 seconds, against a national target of 90 per cent. It soared to 94 per cent in February 2024.
It also saw 36.6 per of calls to the non-emergency number 101 abandoned two years ago, compared with a goal of less than 10 per cent. It is now only 13.4 per cent because of a triage process which quickly identifies those that don’t require police attention and redirects them to the appropriate services.
In a letter on Wednesday, Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman said after a revisit: “The force has already completed the recommendations on emergency calls and 101 call handling.
“As a result of the force’s sustained and significant improvements in performance, we have closed the overall cause of concern.”
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “The Met is working hard to improve our emergency calls and 101 call handling so London gets the best service.
“We are pleased to see HMICFRS has recognised our sustained and significant progress to complete all their recommendations and improve our call handling, now closing their overall cause for concern.
“This is testament to the incredible hard work of our officers and staff, meaning Londoners are getting their calls picked up faster and better advice and help.
“We continue to work closely with the Inspectorate, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and other partners to improve delivery for Londoners in all areas.”
As part of new measures, Scotland Yard has improved the process of risk-assessing to identify those that are vulnerable and made sure repeat callers are routinely identified.
Call handlers now give good advice on the preservation of evidence and crime prevention.
A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “The Mayor welcomes the significant improvements made by the Met in answering emergency calls and prioritising vulnerable people.
“These changes have come about as a direct result of the New Met for London Plan and action Sadiq has taken, including investing £2.5million to improve the service all Londoners calling the police receive.
“This is progress and we will continue to support the Met on delivering the improvements Londoners deserve.”
The Met was put into special measures in June 2022 following Sarah Everard’s rape and murder by serving officer Wayne Couzens.
