§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the proposals made by John Jarvis in a letter to him of 19 November 1999 for provision of the requirements of the Public Sector Radio Communications Project; and if he will make a statement. [107409]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeMr. Jarvis wrote jointly to me and to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 19 November with a proposal for an alternative to the Public Safety Radio Communications Project (PSRCP). Officials at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions will shortly be advising Mr. Jarvis that his proposed approach would not meet the user specification for the PSRCP.
The PSRCP will provide the police with new, state-of-the-art radio communications using the most suitable available standard, Trans European Trunked Radio (TETRA). This standard will, unlike Mr. Jarvis's proposed solution, provide a common platform for voice and data communication services.
As I announced in the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Mr. Hope) on 13 January 2000, Official Report, column 214W, we have invited the 512W chosen service provider, British Telecom plc, to proceed with the necessary preparatory work in the expectation that a contract will be signed shortly.