§ Mr. NorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any plans to review radio communications in the police and fire services: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonIt is essential that the radio communications systems used by all the emergency services enable them to provide a prompt and effective response to incidents. There is also a need to ensure that those parts of the radio spectrum allocated to the emergency services are used efficiently and that the best value of money is achieved by investing in the most effective technology. Each service determines its own radio communications requirements and there is inevitably some risk of duplication of resources and incompatibility in the systems they adopt. I have therefore put in hand a review aimed at developing a coherent strategy for the police and fire services which takes advantage of the latest developments in radio communications to provide maximum flexibility of response and interoperability within and between the services. It will take account of radio communication arrangements in the national health service including the ambulance service.