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Hoax Emergency Calls

Volume 455: debated on Wednesday 24 January 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hoax calls were made to 999 in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. (110669)

The numbers of hoax calls received by Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service for the last 10 calendar years are set out in the table as follows:

NI total

1997

6,192

1998

4,911

1999

4,172

2000

5,879

2001

7,444

2002

5,704

2003

5,873

2004

5,952

2005

5,079

2006

4,777

The numbers of hoax calls received by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), for each of the last eight financial years, are set out in the following table. NIAS cannot provide information prior to the 1999-2000 financial year. (Note: These figures include calls generated by Automated Fire Alarms).

NI total

1999-2000

1,554

2000-01

3,078

2001-02

3,402

2002-03

3,176

2003-04

3,436

2004-05

2,991

2005-06

6,403

2006-07 (9 months)

4,926

The numbers of hoax calls received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSN1) for the last five financial years are set out in the table as follows. Information prior to the 2002-03 financial year is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

NI total

2002-03

531

2003-04

681

2004-05

850

2005-06

927

2006-07 (to 21 January 2007)

1,198