Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have met (i) mobile telephone operators and (ii) BT to discuss the transfer of emergency calls made from mobile telephones to the wrong police force.

Mr Edward Vaizey

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The 999/112 Liaison Committee, chaired by DCMS, provides a forum for representatives from Government; Communications Providers, including BT (which provides the 999 call handling agency) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs); emergency services and Ofcom, to discuss 999 operational matters The LC’s main concern is the effective handling and transfer of emergency calls from the public, through call handling agents ,to emergency authorities.

The “Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service (PECS) between Communications Providers, Call Handing Agencies and the Emergency Authorities” sets out protocols governing 999 calls. This includes guidelines for the Emergency Authorities to manage any occasional situation in which an emergency 999 call is misdirected.