Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of hoax calls to the emergency services.

Making a hoax phone call to the emergency services is a criminal offence. All calls to the emergency services are recorded and the number can be traced, even if withheld. Local services regularly remind the public of the serious consequences of hoax calls.

Emergency services may also request a Communications Provider to place a temporary restriction on the account of the hoax/nuisance caller. However, contact management, including the management of hoax calls, is an operational matter for services.

There are existing mechanisms in place for emergency services to share information on hoax callers. The decision to share data and take or request further action is an operational one for services.