Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that the funding under the Emergency Services Mobile Communications programme is spent in accordance with state aid rules.

The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) received State Aid clearance from the European Commission in December 2015 for the new Emergency Services Network (ESN), which is designed to deliver the most capable and flexible communication system for the police, fire and rescue and ambulance services in Great Britain. A key condition of the clearance was that there is access to the subsidised network on equal and non-discriminatory terms to other mobile network operators. The Programme will comply strictly with the terms of the State Aid clearance secured. We are keen to maximise the benefits of the system, including benefits to the wider public. In particular we expect residents, visitors and businesses in some remote and rural communities will be able to get access to 4G mobile signal coverage for the first time.