Emergency Services Network

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 3 Feb 2023 Closed: 24 Sep 2023 Parliament page
The Home Office’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) programme was launched in 2015 to replace Airwave, the critical mobile network for emergency services such as police, fire and rescue, and ambulance to communicate with each other. In 2019, following significant delays, the Home Office reset the programme to introduce the new … Read more
6 Recommendations
24 Conclusions
1 Report
2 Oral sessions
2 Letters
2 Events
Activity timeline 8 events
24 Sep
2023
Report published
14 Jul
2023
Report published
24 May
2023
Correspondence
24 May
2023
Correspondence
26 Apr
2023
Oral evidence
26 Apr
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
27 Mar
2023
Oral evidence
27 Mar
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions
26 Apr 2023
View on parliament.uk
Emergency Services Network
Ben Norman · Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Chris Lucas · NHS Ambulance Radio Programme Kier Pritchard · National Police Chiefs Council Simon Rickets · Home Office
27 Mar 2023
View on parliament.uk
Emergency Services Network
David Kuenssberg · Home Office Dr John Black · Home Office Simon Parr QPM · Home Office Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE · Home Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Services Network HC 1006 14 Jul 2023 30 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
6 results
Clear
7 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergenc…
Home Office admits significant risks and challenges remain for ESN programme
The Department said it was not being complacent, but acknowledged that even with the best team and governance arrangements it could assemble there was both considerable risk and a lot of work to do before ESN would be ready.16 Nevertheless, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee’s observation regarding the risks and challenges of ESN and states it is fully focused on these, with ongoing involvement of the Independent Assurance Panel and progress towards a target completion date of June 2024 for the Lot 2 award.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergenc…
ESN delays create additional Airwave costs and uncertainty for emergency services
The emergency services contribute, alongside funding from the Department, the Department of Health & Social Care and the Scottish and Welsh governments, to the cost of ESN. Delays to ESN meant the Department itself has spent less than it expected … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observations, stating that if a CMA decision is upheld, there may be scope to reduce Airwave costs for users, and the department will engage to determine support for transition. However, central financial support is limited, and the ESMCP is reviewing the business case to reflect the CMA ruling and new suppliers.
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergenc…
Emergency services incurred significant costs, exceeding £140 million, from ESN programme delays
We asked the emergency services if they could quantify how much delays to ESN had cost them. The ambulance service interacts with ESN through the Ambulance Radio Programme (ARP) on which it had spent £9.5 million.34 The fire service said … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's findings on the costs incurred by emergency services due to ESN delays, but states that central financial support is limited. It notes potential future cost reductions for Airwave users if a CMA decision is upheld, and the department will engage with users for transition activities.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergenc…
Uncertainty surrounding ESN transition funding could lead to cuts elsewhere
We asked the Department how the transition from Airwave to ESN would be funded. It said it would work with users to make transition affordable, but the only way to do this was through usual ‘fiscal events’.37 Although it said … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the funding challenges for the Airwave to ESN transition, stating that future funding decisions are subject to HM Treasury spending reviews and that the ESMCP is reviewing the business case to incorporate CMA ruling impacts, expecting user savings from reduced Airwave costs.
HM Treasury
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14 Recommendation Acknowledged
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergenc…
Airwave extension requires uncosted investment in infrastructure and agreement with Motorola
The CMA has proposed a charge control on Airwave which, once implemented, will make Airwave cheaper for the Department and emergency services.41 The Department considers that it can extend Airwave without creating a gap in service and without any negotiation … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the implications of the CMA charge control on Airwave, stating it is reviewing the business case to reflect the ruling and engaging with users to support transition activities, but does not explicitly commit to issuing an extension notice or fully costing future Airwave investment needs.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Acknowledged
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergenc…
Department acknowledges suboptimal ESN supplier responsibilities but is constrained to make tweaks
The Department recognised that the split of responsibilities between its ESN suppliers is suboptimal.76 The Independent Assurance Panel told us that the complexity had been increased in 2015, when amended contracts had made the Home Office responsible for systems integration, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observations regarding the suboptimal split of responsibilities, stating it has focused on addressing integration complexity. It will commission the IAP to monitor integration plans for the User Services contract and is strengthening its Programme Management team with specialist recruitment and external technical expertise.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 29 of 6 classified
Accepted 18
Acknowledged 6
Not Addressed 5
Total 6 recs + 24 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
24 May 2023 Correspondence from Kier Pritchard, Chief Constable, NPCC lead for ESMCP, re update on Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP), dated 15 May 2023
Parliament page
24 May 2023 Correspondence from Ben Norman, Deputy Chief Fire Officer NFCC, Strategic Lead for Operational Communications, re Follow up questions raised at the Public Accounts Committee on the Emergency Service Network, dated 26 April 2023
Parliament page