Home Office to scrap 101 non-emergency number charges

The move will make the number free of charge for all members of the public, including victims of crime, from April 2020.

The Home Office will invest £5 million a year to fund the service, which receives around 30 million calls annually.

Callers to the 101 number are connected to their local police force, or a force of their choice, and charged 15p a time.

In addition to making 101 calls free, the Home Office is funding police forces to create a new website where the public will be able to contact the police and report crimes online.

The Single Online Home (SOH) is being launched in full in the summer to reflect changes in how the public are interacting with the police.

The 101 service was launched in England and Wales in December 2011.

(Published by the Home Office and Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary: 28 May 2019)