‘Game-changer’: Humberside Police’s control room moves to new £27m facility

STATE-OF-THE-ART: The new Humberside Police control room. Pictures by Tom Arran Commercial Photography

EXCLUSIVE by Rick Lyon

Humberside Police has successfully moved its control room to a new £27m facility, promising an improved service to members of the public who call for help.

The force’s control room, which handles all telephone calls and public contacts, has moved to a purpose-built operational support centre in Melton.

The bespoke new 107,000 sq ft, three-storey facility, dubbed Melton 2, sits next to the force’s existing building at Melton West business park.

The move follows a review of the previous control room, which had occupied a 40-year-old former training centre in Hessle since the late 1980s.

The control room, including switchboard, emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 call handling and dispatch teams, moved to the new centre in the last few weeks.

HEAVILY INVOLVED: Staff had their say on the design of the new Humberside Police control room

Eventually it will be home to almost 800 officers and staff, and house operations teams and specialist units such as major crime investigation, the marine unit, search capability, the dog section, roads police, and armed response.

The state-of-the art control room includes the latest technology and features a large ‘media wall’ where staff can view live CCTV footage from locations across Hull and the wider force area.

The staff were heavily involved in all elements of the design of the new facility, in order to provide them with the best possible workspace in which to deliver an outstanding service to the public.

The centre includes a gym and ‘wellbeing rooms’ where staff can relax and recharge during their break times, away from screens and phones.

Chris Philpott, Head of Force Control at Humberside Police, said: “This gives us the platform to ensure we’ll continue to provide residents in all our communities with the best possible experience when they contact us for help.

‘PROVIDING THE BEST POSSIBLE WORKING ENVIRONNMENT’: Chris Philpott

“Our priority is to answer all calls from the public as quickly as possible and get people the right help, from the right person, as soon as we can. This environment, and the technology we have now, allows us to continue on our journey of improvement.

“Previously, we were being inhibited by our environment. When we were at Hessle, we had seven teams working in 13 different rooms across two floors on a 24/7 basis. The estate wasn’t really fit for 21st century contact.

“This facility has been designed purposefully for the force control room. We haven’t inherited space that used to be used for something else, and that’s a real game-changer for us.

“It will enable is to work even more efficiently and effectively, and as a single control room team, rather than as separate departments.

“We also have specialists from the Mind mental health charity here to support us, along with independent domestic abuse advisors who assist with early intervention work so we don’t lose victim engagement.”

PURPOSE-BUILT: The new Humberside Police control room

Mr Philpott, who oversees a team of 350 staff and 37 officers, said the consultation with colleagues, which began three years ago and involved working groups, one-to-one sessions and online surveys, was crucial in the development of a truly fit for purpose facility.

“The jobs that some of these people do are life and death stressful”, said Mr Philpott. “Providing them with not only the best possible working environment, but also one where they can decompress during their break-out times, was really, really important, and that element’s been purposefully designed from the ground up as well.

“The design was all carried out in consultation with the staff, and their welfare was at the forefront. We involved them in the design layout, colours, furniture – everything.

“We’re looking after our staff, so they can look after our communities.”

Humberside Police is currently one of the best performing forces in the country for call handling.

STAFF WELFARE: Colleagues in the control room taking a break

The force receives an average of 23,500 emergency and non-emergency calls each month. Of these, 93 per cent of 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds – classed as the ‘Gold’ standard – and 76 per cent of 101 calls are answered within 30 seconds.

Emergency call answers are measured from the point the initial call is transferred to the force by a BT operator. Figures due to be released by the Home Office in the nest few weeks, which also take into account the additional time it takes the BT operator to leave the call after it has been answered by the police, are expected to indicate performance is not as strong as it actually is.

Humberside Police’s actual response times do, however, remain among the best of all 43 forces across England and Wales.

“We’re operating really highly on a national level, and we’re recognised for best practice and innovation in quite a number of different areas,” said Mr Philpott.

“This facility gives us the underlying infrastructure and technology to build on those innovations. It also really future proofs the force’s approach to contact handling, as things change and move more digitally.”

‘FANTASIC RESPONSE’: Paul Redshaw talking to a call handler colleague

The migration across from Hessle to Melton was meticulously planned for two years, and executed over the course of six days, so as not to impact on the service provided to the public.

Force Control Room Supervisor Paul Redshaw, who had responsibility for the move, said: “We were planning the move for as long as we were carrying out the build, as we had to consider all the risks in order to maintain business continuity.

“Clearly, as we’re taking all the contacts from the public from across the force area, we had to make sure this happened in a very cautious, controlled manner.

“It was a phased move and there was no impact on the service to the communities we serve whatsoever. We didn’t drop a single call. It was a very successful move.

“The response from the staff has been fantastic and they’re already able to answer calls quicker because of the investments we’ve made, and that can only be of benefit to the public.”