The home secretary has promised a new "copper's contract" heralding a return to community policing.

Speaking at the Police Superintendents' Association annual conference in Warwick on Tuesday, David Blunkett proposed a new non-999 telephone number for every local force and new terms and conditions for officers.

He argued that forces need to focus on "customer satisfaction" by being clearer about how quickly officers will respond to a call and offering more reassurance to victims of crime.

Blunkett said he was "fed up" with waiting for the non-999 number to be made available and that this would become a key priority for the Home Office to institute.

He said this was part of package of measures, to accompany investment, that would improve the public's confidence in the police.

"Over the next two years, the experience of a member of the public contacting the police must improve dramatically," the home secretary said.

"Under new standards agreed with the police, every force in England and Wales will ensure everyone contacting them gets a good level of service. This is a vital part of my vision of a police service focused on serving the public.

"All too often the public's impression of the police service is poor because their initial contact with the police is disappointing. These new rules will help ensure members of the public calling the police for non-emergencies will get a consistently high standard of service.

"But things as simple as showing that callers are being taken seriously, keeping promises made about how soon an officer can attend an incident and being dealt with professionally, will increase the public's satisfaction at the service they receive. Above all, having the telephone answered promptly and politely would create an entirely different relationship, especially where proper training ensures that calls are given the appropriate priority."

Contract

Blunkett added that new contracts for officers would be forthcoming in law and order legislation set for the next session of parliament.

He called on middle-ranking officers to embrace the changes which a source described in a Sunday newspaper as "unfinished business that Michael Howard was afraid to deal with as home secretary".

The move will involve the renegotiation of officers' contracts, terms and conditions, which their unions could resist.

By basing an officer in every community, Blunkett hopes to restore the public's trust in policing as well as reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

He also wants to transfer control of police forces' priorities from chief constables to the local population.

"The first stage of police reform focused on modernising pay and conditions, the introduction of community support officers and ensuring an effective national infrastructure to support more devolved policing at local level," Blunkett said.

"The second stage will be driven by focusing the police on its service to the public when we publish our proposals this autumn. This will mirror our criminal justice reforms, which concentrated on making the criminal justice system focus on the needs of victims and witnesses.

"This isn't just about policing on behalf of the public, it is about policing with the public. We have more police officers than ever before, all crime has fallen 30 per cent since 1997 and the chance of being a victim of crime is at the lowest since records began.

"But we are not complacent and know that frontline officers build lasting relationships with the communities they serve and remain the lynchpin of local policing. It is vital that we support and reward them for this."