§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the trials of the Airwave public safety radio communications system; and if he will make a statement. [154431]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe main evaluation began on 19 March when Divisions in the Lancashire Constabulary started to migrate progressively to Airwave and use the service operationally. Service performance will be assessed continually by the Lancashire force and the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) against rigorous criteria and a formal report is planned for issue in June 2001. If the service meets the criteria set out in the main Airwave contract then national implementation of the service will begin.
Last autumn a number of contractually defined tests to prove radio coverage and service features and performance were carried out. Both Lancashire and PITO were party to these tests which proved satisfactory. PITO subsequently ran and monitored a large number of scripted quasi-operational tests on the to system for a seven week period between November 2000 and January 2001. These tests involved some 300 police personnel drawn from the majority of forces in England, Wales and Scotland. User feedback was generally very positive.