Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the new Emergency Services Network (a) was originally projected to cost and (b) is currently projected to cost as of 19 October 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The estimated cost of providing critical emergency services communications between 2015/16 and 2036/37 is £11.3bn, as per the plan agreed in the July 2021 Full Business Case.
Within this total, the cost of the programme to deliver ESN is £1.6bn, compared with the original estimate of £1.2bn. The £11.3bn also includes Airwave and Legacy contracts, and the ongoing costs of the replacement ESN service.
This assumed Airwave and Legacy system costs of approximately £450m annually (before any impact from the CMA findings), compared with ESN at around £250m per annum.
There are a number of elements that may impact the overall delivery cost and time.
This includes but is not limited to the recent provisional CMA findings into Motorola’s dual role as owner of Airwave and supplier on the programme and any extension to the Airwave shutdown date beyond the end of 2026, as well as contract negotiations for both Lot 2 and 3 as these are due to end in 2024.
Our goal is to work to deliver ESN as swiftly and safely as possible.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the planned completion date for the Emergency Services Network.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
In 2021 the Business Case for ESN set out the expectation that transition to ESN would take place in 2024 with Airwave shut down by 2026.
However, recent changes in our commercial arrangements with one of our key suppliers means that we are exploring future options for the delivery of the ‘user services’ contract with ESN.
This activity will have an impact on the timetable for ESN delivery and we will know more once any re-procurement activity concludes and integrated delivery plans are built. We will share more information when it is known.
Our goal is to work to deliver ESN as swiftly and safely as possible.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the (a) daily, (b) monthly and (c) yearly cost for the use of the airwave service since 2017.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
From 2016/17 to 2021/22 the Airwave System has averaged approximately £370m per annum, which includes network and devices for the three emergency services. With the impact of inflation, the projected annual costs for the Airwave System were anticipated to be approximately £450m per year in the July 2021 Full Business Case. To note that there are other Airwave users beyond the three emergency services that are invoiced directly, and are not captured in these costs.
There are a number of elements that may impact the overall delivery cost and time. This includes but is not limited to the recent provisional CMA findings into Motorola’s dual role as owner of Airwave and supplier on the programme and any extension to the Airwave shutdown date beyond the end of 2026, as well as negotiations for both Lot 2 and 3 as both of these contracts are due to end in 2024. Our goal is to work to deliver ESN as swiftly and safely as possible.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the provisions of the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 will apply to police officers who retire after 1 October 2023.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government is taking steps to remove discrimination on the grounds of age, associated with the transitional protection arrangements linked to the 2015 pension reforms, which was subsequently identified by the courts.
The Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act (PSPJOA) received Royal Assent on 10 March, establishing the legal framework to provide this remedy. The Police and Firefighters’ Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (‘the Regulations’) provided the first, prospective, element of the remedy in respect of police pensions.
The second, retrospective, part of the remedy is more complex and will require further detailed changes to scheme regulations using the powers in the PSPJOA. These changes will be in force by 1 October 2023, in line with the Government’s commitments under that Act.