The Home Office led single non-emergency number is making progress according to this week’s e-Government Bulletin:

Trials of the number are due to go live this Summer in five areas in England and Wales, ahead of a national launch in 2008. Callers will dial ‘101’ to report or make enquiries on non-emergency policing, crime and anti-social behaviour issues including vandalism, graffiti, noisy neighbours and drug dealing. Calls will be charged at local rates.

We need to understand this better – there are only so many single numbers which it makes sense to have.  One question is whether, if we were serious about a single number for government, SNEN would be the best starting point.  The answer ought to be an obvious ‘yes’, but I haven’t picked up much sense that it is intended to develop that way.