Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police services are involved in the airwave replacement programme.

All Police Services in England and Wales are represented at board level on the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP). The Police Service interacts with the Programme via a national team, Operational Communications in Policing (OCiP). The Deputy Chief Constable who is head of OCiP also undertakes the role of Police Business Change Lead (BCL) on the Programme.

The BCL is accountable to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) for Emergency Services Network (ESN) matters and regularly updates and seeks decisions from chief officer colleagues and specialists within forces through police governance. There is a designated ESN Business Change and Assurance Manager (BCAM) with a small team including Regional Coordination Managers (RCMs). OCiP cascades information from the Programme to encourage two-way communication to all forces, including non-Home Office forces. Each force has a nominated contact point, at both strategic and tactical levels. Police Scotland is represented via the BCL for Scotland who also sits at board level on the Programme.