Review of police call handling after M9 crash deaths finds major problems

An investigation has found a raft of problems with the police call handling in Scotland after the death of a young couple who lay undiscovered in their crashed car for three days.

The review has made 30 recommendations for improvements to be addressed "as a priority", after finding a number of weaknesses in the new system.

Lamara Bell and boyfriend John Yuill both suffered fatal injuries after they crashed off the M9 motorway near Stirling on July 5.

An investigation was sparked after it was revealed a witness had phoned police on the day of the crash to say he had seen the couple's Renault Clio come off the road.

However, the call was not logged and emergency services did not look for the couple until three days after the incident.

Father-of-three Mr Yuill is understood to have died on impact.

Mother-of-two Ms Bell was found injured and badly dehydrated in the wreckage and died seven days later in hospital.

The HMICS review was ordered by the Scottish Government.

It has reported weaknesses in Police Scotland's approach to implementing its new national call handling system, which has seen a number of control rooms closed.

The investigation shows that some staff are noting down information from emergency calls onto scribble pads rather than inputting details into the main system, and that they are under pressure to end 999 calls quickly.

It also found that "constant changes" in Police Scotland call handling working practices and "significant uncertainties" over their futures had affected staff morale at the time of the crash.

The HMICS report also found inconsistencies in the way calls are handled.

Its 30 recommendations include the appointment of "an experienced and qualified programme manager with immediate effect" to manage the remaining stages of the new call handling model, an urgent review and strengthening of the approach to programme governance, and improved financial management and reporting for the call handling project.

Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), which represents officers below superintendent rank, said the main issue is finance.

"The police service has got to save £1.1bn in its first ten years of existence," he told BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland.

"The expectation to save that amount of money from a police service, or from any public service, is enormous and the consequence of that is that money becomes in general terms the singular focus rather than the attention of delivering the service.

"Invariably when financial pressures are to the front of the considerations of anybody, let alone a police service, then the wider quality of service to the public suffers."