Assembly Government should step in to save and expand 101 call centre says AM

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 26th Nov 2007

The Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Social Justice, Peter Black, has called on the Welsh Government to step in and take over the funding of South Wales Police's Cardiff-based 101 centre after the Labour Government pulls the plug in February.

The Cardiff 101 centre is a pilot project providing a non-emergency response service for reporting instances of low-level crime, nuisance and anti-social behaviour. It also provides a much-valued and well used intelligence gathering function for South Wales Police.

Currently the centre is dealing with 500 calls a day, and is freeing up Police Officers to tackle crime. It is a cross cutting initiative with the local Council but has the potential to be expanded to take in the rest of Wales, bringing many benefits including quicker action in clearing up fly-tipping and graffiti as well as better responses to incidents of anti-social behaviour and other crimes.

Mr. Black visited the centre earlier this morning to see for himself. He said:

"Everyone is agreed that the 101 Centre is providing an excellent value for money service. As such, it is incredible that the Home Office is talking about cutting off its £2.2 million per year funding in a few months time. No doubt the Westminster Labour Government is hoping that we will pick up the tab.

"The service has proven itself to the hilt as a vital addition to combating crime in Cardiff. Extending it on all all-Wales basis would be both logical and desirable.

"That is why I am calling on Labour and their Plaid allies in Cardiff to commit to continue funding for the centre from next February and to work with local Councils to roll it out across the rest of Wales. A precedent has already been set for this when the Assembly Government stepped in to help fund Operation Tarian in combating drugs, it should be possible to do the same here."