Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Sixty-Fourth Report - The Emergency Services Network
Public Accounts Committee
HC 1006
Published 14 July 2023
Conclusions (6)
8
Conclusion
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, …
Government Response 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.
11
Conclusion
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 …
Government Response 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.
20
Conclusion
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 …
Government Response 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 the response does not specifically address how building penetration issues or the 2,000-4,000 locations needing checks will be resolved.
24
Conclusion
The Department’s original objectives for ESN were to save money and bring mobile data to emergency services.80 It will now take at least 10 years from now for the potential 70 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 71 Q 60 (27 March) 72 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.26, 2.11 and Figure 1 73 …
25
Conclusion
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 …
Government Response 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.
26
Conclusion
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 …
Government Response 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 specifically address the committee's concern about the programme no longer expecting to provide apps beyond push-to-talk, which limits potential innovations and benefits.