HL Deb 10 April 2001 vol 624 cc158-9WA
Earl Attlee

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 5 March (WA 7) regarding evidence supporting his assertion that mobile phones are routinely used as a mode of communication between a police escort and the escorted load while in motion, whether the confirmation from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) was in writing; and, if so, what was the ACPO Secretariat's file reference; if it was by means of verbal briefing, when such a briefing was given, by whom and how it can be said to be evidence. [HL1642]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) confirmed in writing that there is no direct radio link between an abnormal load and an escorting police vehicle and that the communication available is through the use of mobile phones between the abnormal load's second man and the police, via the police control room and the police radio system, to the police escort vehicle. The letter, dated 17 November 2000, came direct from those officers who speak for ACPO on this issue and it does not, therefore, include an ACPO Secretariat file reference.