Airwave

HC Deb 18 November 2003 vol 413 cc817-9W

Mr. Oaten

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what dates he estimates that the Airwave communications system will be fully operational in each police force area.[1385271]

Ms Blears

In England and Wales Airwave is already fully operational in the following forces: Cambridgeshire, Humberside, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Greater Manchester, Northumbria, North Yorkshire, Suffolk and West Mercia.

Estimated dates for the other forces in England and Wales to become fully operational are given in the table.

Rollout of Airwave in Scotland will follow after England and Wales.

Airwave operational date		Force
Q4	2003	Bedford
		Derbyshire
Q1	2004	Hertfordshire
		Lincolnshire
Q2	2004	Avon & Somerset
		Dorset
		Durham
		Essex
		Gloucestershire
		South Wales
		Wiltshire
Q3	2004	Cheshire
		City of London
		Cleveland
		Gwent
		Nottinghamshire
		South Yorkshire
		Surrey
		Sussex
		Thames Valley
Q4	2004	Merseyside
		Northamptonshire
		Warwickshire
		West Midlands
Q I	2005	Norfolk
Q2	2005	West Yorkshire
Q3	2005	Cumbria
		Staffordshire
Q4	2005	Kent
		Metropolitan
		Devon and Cornwall
	Not yet available	Dyfed Powys
		Hampshire
		North Wales

Mr. Oaten

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent to date on the Airwave communications system, broken down by police force area. [138528]

Ms Blears

It is estimated that the Airwave service contract for the provision of the police service's new digital radio communication service will cost £2.3 billion (at 1999 prices) over the 22-year lifetime of the project. In addition, forces have to procure radio terminals and to modernise control rooms. Funding is provided centrally by the Home Office and locally by police authorities.

To date, the Home Office has provided a total of £336.4 million to police forces in England and Wales for Airwave. The break-down by police force area is given in the table.

Home Office spend on airwave to date broken down by police force area
Force	£ million
Avon & Somerset	8.9
Bedfordshire	3.2
Cambridgeshire	4,4
Cheshire	4.2
City of London	2.2
Cleveland	3.9
Cumbria	2.3
Derbyshire	5.7
Devon & Cornwal	6.7
Dorset	3.2
Durham	3.9
Dyfed-Powys	1.4
Essex Police	6.9
Gloucestershire	3.1
Greater Manchester	31.6
Gwent	3.0
Hampshire	7.6
Hertfordshire	4.9
Humberside	6.3
Kent	7.2
Lancashire	14.5
Leicestershire	8.1
Lincolnshire	3.3
Merseyside	11.2
Nottinghamshire	6.8
Norfolk	3.2
Northamptonshire	2.5
North Yorkshire	3.5
North Wales	2.9
Northumbria	11.8
South Wales	7.8
South Yorkshire	8.3
Staffordshire	4.4
Suffolk	5.4
Surrey	4.7
Sussex	6.4
Thames Valley	10.8
Warwickshire	2.0
West Mercia	8.6
West Midlands	14.7
West Yorkshire	11.1
Wiltshire	2.9
Metropolitan Police	60.9
TOTAL	336.4