§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many subscribers use the City of London and Metropolitan Police Priority Alert Scheme; what the cost to(a) subscribers and (b) operators is; how many messages were issued in each case of the last five years; and for what purposes. [114720]
§ Keith HillI have been asked to reply.
In the Capital, the City of London and Metropolitan police's Priority Alert scheme now has in excess of 2,000 subscribers from London businesses. Each member pays £15 per month to subscribe a pager to receive information through the scheme. The police themselves incur no direct costs as the operators of the scheme.
Over the last five years, the Priority Alert scheme has sent over 1.8 million messages to its subscribers. The 328W primary use of the system is associated with warning those subscribers of suspicious situations, potential terrorist activity and potential or actual demonstrations.