Emergency Services Network project is 'classic case of optimism bias in Government', says MP

Britain’s emergency services could save money if the Government adopted a more pragmatic approach to procurement, according to a senior figure at a Yorkshire-based provider of resource management services.
By Greg Wright
Published 21st Jul 2023, 12:41 BST
Updated 21st Jul 2023, 12:41 BST

Andrew McNamara, channel sales manager at Harrogate-based Mobile Tornado, made the comments after a major Parliamentary committee found that "significant costs” are being created for emergency services by the Government’s failure to deliver its replacement communication network.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found that emergency services are facing financial pressures as a result of continued delays in delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), with no specific mechanism put in place by Government to help them bear these extra costs.

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A statement issued on behalf of the PAC said: “The Government started the programme to deliver ESN in 2015 and expected to turn off the current system, Airwave, in 2019. Airwave will eventually become obsolete and does not provide users with access to modern mobile data. But the Government still does not know when ESN will be ready and, despite having spent some £2bn, ESN has not delivered anything substantial or reduced any risks.”

Library image of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London. Significant costs are being created for emergency services by the Government’s failure to deliver its replacement communication network, according to the Public Accounts Committee (Photo David Mirzoeff/PA Wire)Library image of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London. Significant costs are being created for emergency services by the Government’s failure to deliver its replacement communication network, according to the Public Accounts Committee (Photo David Mirzoeff/PA Wire)
Library image of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London. Significant costs are being created for emergency services by the Government’s failure to deliver its replacement communication network, according to the Public Accounts Committee (Photo David Mirzoeff/PA Wire)

The PAC’s inquiry, its fourth into the delayed programme, looked into how much the delays to ESN had cost the emergency services, which have had to pay for additional Airwave devices as a result.

The statement said said: “ESN transitional costs for the ambulance service amount to £9.5m, while the fire service said it had spent £6m preparing for transition, and £2m on early versions of ESN which now had to be replaced.

"Police forces estimate that Airwave devices cost £125m since 2018, and expect to spend another £25m by 2026. Forces had spent a further £5m on transition teams. Further costs are inevitable, as current systems will be obsolete in 2028 and may need replacing again before ESN is ready. Following Motorola’s departure from the project, to whom the Department estimates it has paid some £140m without the taxpayer getting full value, only limited further progress can be made before the Home Office finds a new supplier.”

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Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The ESN project is a classic case of optimism bias in Government. There has never been a realistic plan for ESN and no evidence that it will work as well as the current system.”

Responding to the report, Mr McNamara said: “The Public Accounts Committee’s report into the Emergency Services Network has performed a valuable service on behalf of UK taxpayers. As one of the MPs on the committee pointed out, a lot has changed since 2015 and the world and technology are in very different places.“If Whitehall adopted a more pragmatic approach to procurement, emergency services would be able to benefit from advanced push-to-talk over cellular technologies available now from within the UK at a fraction of the cost and timescale.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Office and Motorola mutually agreed to terminate the contract to provide services for the Emergency Services Network last December. We have agreed that Motorola will provide some services for twelve months following this date. The Home Office is making good progress in procuring a new user services supplier.”

Related topics:GovernmentYorkshireBritain