Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the new Emergency Services Network will include lifeboats.

The option to join the Emergency Service Network (ESN) will be available to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). ESN will be available up to12 nautical miles out to sea and will provide air coverage up to 10,000 feet making it a viable option for the organisation. The RNLI already use the existing Airwave system, which is organised locally or regionally, either through the Resilience Forum or directly with the Emergency Services. We are currently engaging with the RNLI and will work with them to prepare them for transition to the network, however the ultimate decision to join the network will sit with the RNLI based on their organisational requirements.