Mr. Alan Todd:

Of course. That is the nature of things. Reports take time to come out. If there are obvious lessons, we learn from and implement them. However, there is a significant number of missing persons per year. There are links between some of those cases and children in care, and there is a massive amount of work to be done and risk involved. Child sex exploitation may also form a part of some of those situations and must be dealt with. That illustrates the complexity of policing.

As I stated in my opening, an investigation used to involve a police officer meeting the person, taking notes, speaking to a few other people and writing a report but now involves seizing CCTV and examining mobile devices. It takes six times longer to conduct a proper investigation than it used to and requires far more skill and technology. That is the nature and complexity of our business. Missing persons and other matters have added to the volume of work with which we must deal.

Contact management is the shop window of local policing. Most people lift the phone when they wish to talk to the police and access services. However, the service they get may depend on what service is available. Contact management centres and our online offering are an increasing part of our business which help us balance some of the stresses discussed earlier. One can discern the changing nature of issues after 4 p.m. on a Friday when other agencies finish work for the weekend. On wrap-around services, not alone is there no handover wrap-around but some support services are not available at weekends. The police continues to be the emergency service of last resort even when the situations to be dealt with are not a core part of our business. The situation is worsened by the resource constraints experienced by our partners.