Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
7
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Acknowledged
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, it was determined to ‘crack on’ with ESN and was …
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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, it was determined to ‘crack on’ with ESN and was confident it could solve the problems.17 While it acknowledged that optimism bias is a cultural issue in both the Department and wider civil service, and that it had been over-optimistic about ESN before, it claimed to have a better understanding now.18 But when we asked if it could reduce the risk, it acknowledged that it would not know until it found a supplier to replace Motorola.19 It acknowledged that ESN is its biggest, reddest and hardest programme in a portfolio “stuffed full” of very difficult programmes, and said it would be ‘brave’ to believe it had identified technical solutions for the entire programme.20
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Government response AI summary
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.
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HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Acknowledged
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 on ESN.28 But emergency services have had to pay for …
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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 on ESN.28 But emergency services have had to pay for additional Airwave devices as a result of the delays.29 The Department did not know how long Airwave devices would now need to last, saying only it was working to give emergency services a “rough idea”.30 Given that Airwave handsets last 10 years, radios bought after the previous reset in 2018 will be obsolete in 2028 and may need replacing again before ESN is ready.31 The ambulance service told us that it was now unsure whether to start replacing its Airwave terminals, and while the fire service had delayed buying new control rooms it agreed that it was ‘unhelpful for the sector’ not to know when ESN was going to be ready.32
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Government response AI summary
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 …
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HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Acknowledged
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 it had spent £6 million preparing for transition, and £2 …
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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 it had spent £6 million preparing for transition, and £2 million on early versions of ESN which now had to be replaced.35 Police forces estimate that Airwave devices cost £125 million since 2018, and expect to spend another £25m by 2026. Forces also spent a further £5 million 23 Q 92 (27 March) 24 Q 29 (27 March) 25 C&AG’s Report, paras 19, 2.10 26 Q 66 (27 March) 27 Qq 13, 32 (26 April) 28 C&AG’s Report, para 1.10 29 Q 34 (27 March) 30 Q 35 (27 March) 31 ESN0001; Qq 22 (26 April) 32 Qq 16, 21 (26 April) 33 Q 40 (27 March); C&AG’s Report, para 16 34 Letter to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee from Chris Lucas, Senior User, NHS Ambulance Radio Programme, 9 May 2023 35 Letter to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee from Ben Norman, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, NFCC Strategic Lead for Operational Communications, 12 May 2023 The Emergency Services Network 11 on transition teams. Although police forces did not consider all of this spend to be wasted, the intended benefits had not been realised, and they considered there was a strong case for financial assistance with future costs.36
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Government response AI summary
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 …
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HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Acknowledged
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 it would try and minimise the financial impact, it acknowledged …
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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 it would try and minimise the financial impact, it acknowledged there would inevitably be some financial impact on police forces, fire services and ambulance services.38 While the Department was confident that HM Treasury would provide the necessary funding at the next spending review it could not rule out having to make cuts elsewhere to pay for ESN.39 The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) told us that financial pressures had forced some police forces to use funding intended for ESN on other projects.40
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Government response AI summary
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.
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HM Treasury
14
Recommendation
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Acknowledged
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 with Motorola, provided it gives 12 months’ notice of an …
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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 with Motorola, provided it gives 12 months’ notice of an extension. It has not yet done this.42 The Independent Assurance Panel said that, to maintain Airwave’s performance, Airwave would need ongoing investment to: replace obsolete components, retain skills for managing the network and to maintain the steel and concrete in some 4,000 masts. It considered the latter had not yet been fully costed by the Department.43 The level of investment required will need to be agreed with Motorola.44 Demonstrating to the emergency services that ESN is ready to replace Airwave
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Government response AI summary
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 …
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HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Acknowledged
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, a task it did not have the skills to do.77 …
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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, a task it did not have the skills to do.77 The Department acknowledged that if it looked at ESN through a purely commercial, financial or technical lens, it would not retain its current approach, which it called a ‘recommended’ rather than ‘preferred’ option. It felt that had it been able to start again with a blank sheet of paper it would probably prefer to adopt a prime contractor approach, which would allow it to step back from the systems integration role.78 But it felt constrained by the need to turn off Airwave off as quickly as possible, which meant it could only make ‘tweaks’ to the programme’s commercial structure.79 Running ESN as a live service
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Government response AI summary
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 …
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HM Treasury