HL Deb 02 July 2002 vol 637 cc21-2WA
Lord Marlesford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will name those police forces which are now equipped with Airwave, the new secure encrypted digital radio system, indicating in respect of each force the date on which the equipment was in service; and whether the system is proving satisfactory in operational conditions. [HL4818]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)

The Airwave service is being provided under contract by mm02 Limited, which has to date provided the infrastructure needed to deliver the service to six forces in England and Wales. These forces are, with their migration status shown in brackets: Lancashire (complete), Greater Manchester (restarting in July 2002), North Yorkshire (complete), West Mercia (started 12 March 2002), Suffolk (started 13 May 2002) and Leicestershire (due to start Summer 2002).

Forces migrate to the Airwave service from their existing systems on a staged basis once the infrastructure, purchasing of terminals and officer training have all been completed. The Airwave contract defines this starting point as being the ready for service (RFS) date.

Once a force has passed its RFS date, migration usually takes place on a division-by-division basis and can last several months.

In view of the demanding requirements and the state-of-the-art technology being used, it has generally taken longer to install and integrate the Airwave infrastructure and equipment than was originally hoped. However, once the system has been optimised, it has been found to meet operational requirements.

Airwave provides substantial benefits compared to the existing analogue systems, including improved officer safety through an emergency button, secure encryption of all voice and data traffic, improved coverage, good quality clear speech, reduced interference and access to a comprehensive range of data services.