THE time taken by North Yorkshire Police to answer a 101 non-emergency call has dropped by more than two minutes.

A report to tomorrow’s Police and Crime Panel meeting says that improvements to the Force Control Room (FCR) have led to a fall in the average time taken to answer a 101 call - from three minutes 35 seconds in August to one minute and 32 seconds in November.

The report shows the drop coincides with the introduction of new services in the FCR to speed up non-emergency calls, but also with a reduction of almost 5,000 101 calls received.

The number of calls to 101 which were abandoned has also fallen from 31.55 per cent in August, to 15.65 per cent by November, the report said.

Attendance time by police is 11.7 minutes for "immediate urban" and 16.4 minutes for "immediate rural” incidents, well within the targets of 15 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively, the report said.

Figures recently released under the Freedom Of Information Act showed the longest time taken to answer a 999 call in recent years was two minutes and 24 seconds, in 2016.

However, a force spokeswoman said the daily average answering time for 999 calls in December 2017 had fallen to between six and 12 seconds.

Councillor Ashley Mason, who sits on the Police and Crime Panel, said: “It’s reassuring to see the majority of 999 calls are answered within six seconds, however the incidences where the wait was over two minutes is totally unacceptable. I know that the control room staff are working incredibly hard to manage demand and this is an area where the panel will be keeping a watching brief.”

Cllr Mason also said he planned to raise concerns of former police officers over the sale of trophies and awards from the force’s former headquarters at Newby Wiske.

As reported in The Press, the force has authorised the sale of hundreds of items from the former HQ following consultation with former officers and after offering a number of items to museums and collections, which has led to a number of former officers expressing their unhappiness.

A number of commemorative items that were listed for auction will go on display at the new force headquarters, but some former officers remain unhappy with the plan to sell some items.

Cllr Mason said on Twitter: “I will be raising this under members' questions and asking the PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner) to stop the sale and meet with me in York with local NARPO members.”

The Press contacted NARPO (National Association of Retired Police Officers) to clarify the level of consultation several weeks ago, but no response was received.