Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of how much the (a) delay of the Emergency Services Network and (b) extended use of the Airwave system will cost each police force.

The direct cost to police forces, is minimal since Airwave is funded centrally rather than by individual police forces.

The direct costs that forces will have to pay is estimated to be £1.5B compared to the £0.9B included in the 2015 business case.

The additional cost to the police, of running Airwave due to ESN delivery delays is estimated at £1.4B, or, with contingency factored in, £1.6B. This is funded centrally and does not currently impact individual forces.

Despite delays, the strategic and investment case for the ESN remains strong.