Q1 2022: Average Police Report Turnaround Times

In our latest data compiled for the first quarter of 2022, we have found that turnaround times for requests for information have increased on average for most police forces.

In our Q4 2021 report, we outlined that the slowest response time was from Greater Manchester Police. This remains the case, with a median response time of 95 days. In correspondence, they are advising of delays of at least 16 weeks. We understand that this is closer to 20 weeks at present.

A further police force reporting significant delays are Northamptonshire Police, who are also advising turnaround times of 16 weeks.

Forces experiencing significant delays are attributing this to staff shortages; many forces have a very small team of people dealing with requests for collision reports. 

Warwickshire Police have experienced the most significant change to their turnaround times in the last quarter, with a 40 day increase in their median response time. Similarly, Nottinghamshire Police’s increase is one of 36 days.

Despite this, we have seen five police forces improve their median turnaround times since our last report: Cheshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, South Wales, and West Midlands. The most significant improvement in this quarter has been South Wales, whose median turnaround time has dropped by 22 days.

Five forces have kept their median response times the same: Gwent, Kent, Lancashire, Norfolk, and South Yorkshire.

Of all outstanding requests across each police force, 20.8% have been outstanding for over three months which we continue to follow up on a regular basis. This is a significant decrease from our last report, and is a sign that turnaround times, on the whole, seem to be moving in the right direction.

As with our last report, we continue to experience several cases where we have been instructed to obtain a collision report within days of an RTC. While this is a good thing as it means we will usually be able to get reports without any undue delay, this will have an impact on how long we may have to wait for a report to become available and thus potentially skew our statistics.

If you are interested in the specific turnaround times of each police force, please download our full 2022 Q1 statistics sheet below.