Recommendations & Conclusions
5 items
8
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Not Addressed
We asked whether the Department could have acted sooner to remove Motorola, and the Department acknowledged that, in hindsight, it wished different choices had been made when Motorola bought Airwave in 2016.21 The Department said it had been aware of a possibility of that Motorola might leave ESN following delays, …
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We asked whether the Department could have acted sooner to remove Motorola, and the Department acknowledged that, in hindsight, it wished different choices had been made when Motorola bought Airwave in 2016.21 The Department said it had been aware of a possibility of that Motorola might leave ESN following delays, but had been surprised by Motorola’s “extreme and swift” reaction to the CMA investigation.22 It also acknowledged 10 C&AG’s Report, paras 4, 9, 19 11 C&AG’s Report, para 19 12 Q 13 (27 March) 13 Q 80 (27 March) 14 Q 14 (27 March) 15 Qq 2, 4 (26 April) 16 Qq 26, 99 (27 March) 17 Qq 31, 100 (27 March) 18 Qq 101–103 (27 March) 19 Q 84 (27 March) 20 Qq 26, 68, 99 (27 March) 21 Q 104 (27 March) 22 Qq 92, 96 (27 March) 10 The Emergency Services Network the programme could have been delivered faster had it been able to solve issues with Motorola.23 The Department estimates it has paid some £140 million to Motorola without the taxpayer getting full value.24
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees but responds by detailing current programme progress, the role of the Independent Assurance Panel (IAP) in oversight, and the competitive global market for alternative suppliers, without addressing the specific historical observations or financial estimates.
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HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Not Addressed
Emergency services are temporarily disbanding their dedicated ESN teams that had been preparing for testing and transition, and the Department explained that there was currently very little for such teams to work on. It hoped each organisation would retain a “point of contact” but acknowledged that ESN might no longer …
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Emergency services are temporarily disbanding their dedicated ESN teams that had been preparing for testing and transition, and the Department explained that there was currently very little for such teams to work on. It hoped each organisation would retain a “point of contact” but acknowledged that ESN might no longer be their priority.33
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Government response AI summary
The government's response, which focuses on financial implications of the CMA ruling and business case review, does not address the committee's conclusion regarding the disbanding of emergency services' dedicated ESN teams or the importance of retaining points of contact.
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HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Not Addressed
The coverage provided by ESN remains a key concern for emergency services.67 The NPCC was concerned that, despite commitments from the Department for ESN to be as good as Airwave, the ESN 4G signal does not penetrate buildings as successfully as Airwave.68 When we asked about the number of buildings …
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The coverage provided by ESN remains a key concern for emergency services.67 The NPCC was concerned that, despite commitments from the Department for ESN to be as good as Airwave, the ESN 4G signal does not penetrate buildings as successfully as Airwave.68 When we asked about the number of buildings in which ESN would work, the Department said its modelling suggested 2,000 to 4,000 locations still need to be checked.69 63 Qq 23, 36, 37 (27 March) 64 Q 38 (27 March) 65 ESN0001 66 Qq 39, 44 (27 March) 67 Q 56 (26 April) 68 ESN0001 69 Q 25 (27 March) 14 The Emergency Services Network 2 Ensuring ESN provides value in the longer-term Connecting the different parts of ESN together
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion and states it has drafted an ESMCP control plan outlining main building blocks, dependencies, and testing (including real-world testing). This plan is currently out for user consultation and will be agreed upon by the end of 2023, but …
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HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Not Addressed
Police were concerned that ESN may not prove any cheaper than commercial alternatives.83 We asked about operational benefits from access to data. The Department acknowledged that it no longer expected ESN to provide any productivity benefits.84 Police explained that almost all forces use mobile data via commercial tablets, laptops and …
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Police were concerned that ESN may not prove any cheaper than commercial alternatives.83 We asked about operational benefits from access to data. The Department acknowledged that it no longer expected ESN to provide any productivity benefits.84 Police explained that almost all forces use mobile data via commercial tablets, laptops and smartphones, and the benefits from ESN enhancing these with priority access to data were not clear.85 The fire service said that its services were also using data and had already realised some of the benefits ESN was originally planned to bring. It also warned that, the longer these commercial services were used, the greater the risk that fire services would not agree to replace them with ESN.86 The ambulance service said that it had needed to redesign systems that were expected to connect to ESN to use commercial mobile connections instead, although it hoped ESN could be introduced in future.87
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Government response AI summary
The government's response, which is identical to a response for another recommendation, does not address the committee's specific observations regarding concerns about ESN's cost, lack of productivity benefits, or the risk of emergency services not adopting it due to existing commercial alternatives.
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HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Ser…
Not Addressed
Despite these concerns, all three emergency services did still see a continuing case for ESN. For example, the fire service said that there could be benefits from being able to share drone footage of incidents by ESN providing a common platform for such services. It noted that several reports into …
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Despite these concerns, all three emergency services did still see a continuing case for ESN. For example, the fire service said that there could be benefits from being able to share drone footage of incidents by ESN providing a common platform for such services. It noted that several reports into national incidents have called for better communication and coordination between the three emergency services.88 The Independent Assurance Panel pointed out that innovations and benefits would only happen after the network was completed, and may require software and an app store.89 However, the ESN programme no longer expects to provide any apps, other than to enable push-to-talk.90
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees on the need for clear responsibilities and plans for operating ESN when live, detailing that current contracts define the service model, the User Services supplier will act as Service Integrator, and a new billing model is developed. However, the response does not …
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HM Treasury