Written question asked by Lord Hogan-Howe (Crossbench) on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 3 December 2024. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 December 2024 on behalf of the Home Office.

Emergency Services Network

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of costs for the Emergency Services Network replacement service for Airwave; when the first police force will receive a functioning radio system; and when the roll out to all forces will be completed.

Answer: In its 2021 Business Case the Programme estimated the total cost of providing critical emergency services communications between 2015/16 and 2036/37 to be £11.3bn. This is the combined cost of running the current system Airwave while developing ESN. A revised Programme Business Case setting out a new timetable and costs is expected early next year. This will reflect an extension of the evaluation period from FY2036/37 to FY2043/44 and extended run period for legacy Airwave systems by approximately three years. We plan for the network to be live for first users in early 2027 and are targeting full transition by end of 2029.

Secondary information