Police to be set 15-minute response target for some 999 calls
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to announce new mandatory targets for police response times in England and Wales. Under the new plans, officers will be expected to arrive at emergencies within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas.
The move is part of a wider government effort to tackle an "epidemic" of everyday crimes, such as shoplifting and mobile phone theft, which the Home Secretary says often go unpunished. Currently, many police forces have their own internal goals, but there is no national system to hold them accountable when they fail to meet them.
Key Changes in Policing
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Cutting Red Tape: The Home Secretary wants to remove unnecessary paperwork to ensure officers spend more time on the streets rather than behind desks.
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Expert Support: If a police force consistently fails to meet these new targets, experts from higher-performing agencies will be sent in to help improve their response times.
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Funding Reform: The government plans to change how staffing is funded. This aims to stop forces from using "front-line" officer budgets to fill office-based roles in IT or HR.
Reaction to the Plans
While the Neighbourhood Watch has welcomed the move as a step toward making sure police actually show up when called, others have raised concerns. The National Police Chiefs' Council warned that officers should not "obsess" over targets if it means they cannot respond to calls safely.
Opposition parties have also been critical. The Conservatives pointed out that the number of full-time officers fell by over 1,300 in the last year, making it harder to meet new promises. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have urged the government to ensure these are not just "empty pledges" and to focus on getting more officers back into local communities.
