§ Mr. HopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on the Police Service Radio Communications Project; and if he will make a statement. [112636]
§ Mr. StrawOn 13 January, I laid before Parliament a Departmental minute notifying a non-statutory liability arising from the issue by the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) of a letter of instruction to proceed to British Telecom plc. This letter authorised them to invest in the project infrastructure, pending satisfactory conclusions of the final contract negotiations. I can now confirm that yesterday evening PITO signed a contract with British Telecom plc for the provision of the Public Safety Radio Communications Service (PSRCS) to all police forces in England, Wales and Scotland. I will be announcing shortly further details on the scope and timetable of the project.