How Fast Do Police Answer 999 and 101 Calls?
How 999 and 101 call-answering is measured, the national picture, and how to check your own force's live figures.
When you dial 999 or 101, how quickly the call is answered varies by force and over time. This page explains how that performance is measured and points you to the official, up-to-date figures for your own force — rather than republishing numbers that are measured over different periods and are not directly comparable between forces.
90%
999 calls targeted to be answered within 10 seconds (England, Wales & NI)
every 3s
a 999 call is received by police somewhere in the country
up to ~7s
BT connection lag before a 999 call reaches a force call handler
How 999 answer times are measured
When you dial 999, BT answers first and connects you to the relevant police force. The published “answer time” is the time from BT transferring the call to the force answering it. Forces aim to answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds. In the first national league-table release, forces were answering 71% of 999 calls within 10 seconds, with an overall average of 16.1 seconds.
Not every call is counted: if a caller is not distressed and does not object, BT can place the call in the force’s queue, and those calls (around 4–7% of the total, varying by force) are not included in the answer-time figures.
101 non-emergency calls
From 2024/25, forces also began publishing 101 (non-emergency) call-answering data on police.uk. The National Police Chiefs’ Council reported that average 101 waits had fallen, with a national average of around half a minute — but 101 performance still varies widely between forces and over time, so check your force’s current figure directly.
Check your force’s live figures
police.uk publishes each force’s 999 and 101 call-answering performance and lets you compare areas. It is the authoritative, current source.
Common questions
What is the target for answering 999 calls?
Forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland aim to answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds. Performance is published per force on police.uk.
Where can I see my own force's answer times?
police.uk publishes 999 and 101 call-answering performance for each force, and lets you compare areas. Use the official tool for the current figure for your force.
Why can't I compare forces directly?
Forces publish over different periods, and 4–7% of 999 calls (those BT places in a force queue when the caller is not distressed) are not included in the answer-time figures. There is also a BT connection lag of up to about 7 seconds before a call reaches a force. Read cross-force comparisons with care.
Sources: GOV.UK 999 call-answering league tables (national figures and measurement notes); police.uk (live per-force 999 and 101 performance); National Police Chiefs’ Council (101 publication). The 16.1-second and 71% figures are from the initial national release; current per-force figures on police.uk supersede them. In an emergency always call 999; use 101, or your force’s online reporting, for non-emergencies.