Archived decisions

AIRWAVE PROJECT - COMPLETION

1. The Authority has received a report from the Chief Constable on completion of the Airwave Communication project. The project commenced in 1996, the Home Office, Treasury and Association of Chief Police Officers' Council having agreed the need for a new national mobile communications network for the Police Service in England and Wales. The UHF radio frequencies used by the Police Service were due to be withdrawn by 2005 and existing radio systems could not be adapted. Ageing analogue systems were costly to support and maintain.

2. Following invitation to tender the successful company was Quadrant, a consortium comprising BT (lead member), Motorola, Nokia and TRW. BT subsequently demerged its mobile technology to a new company (O₂) which subsequently created a subsidiary - O₂ Airwave, which provides and maintains the airwave service.

3. The new system uses digital technology which offers encryption leading to an improved quality of transmission. This will also enable the Constabulary to exploit other forms of communication during data messaging and to transmit messages in a more secure environment due to the encryption.

4. Migration of the Service commenced on the Isle of Wight in June 2004 and was completed across the two counties in August 2005. This included training for over 4,500 staff, the distribution of 4,500 handheld radios and associated equipment and the installation in 838 vehicles. The vehicles used in covert organisational duties are to be fitted with the equipment later this year.

5. The Home Office provided grants for both capital and revenue expenditure. It was

never expected that the grant would cover the whole of the set up costs but it was disappointing that late in the project the Home Office withdrew the final two years' revenue grant. The Home Office took the view that this element had been consolidated into the general police grant. Actual capital expenditure is expected to be £6.63m supported by actual capital grant of £5.32m. The overall revenue cost of the project to March 2006 is £5.99m over £1m less than that originally estimated. This is as a result of less reliance on outside consultancy, collaborative deals on purchasing and innovative ways of working particularly in relation to fitting vehicles. The revenue grant received from the Home Office was £5.07m, £2.09m less than promised. The revenue and capital balances have been met by the Authority from its own resources. The ongoing cost of managing Airwave is included in the approved revenue budget for 2006/07 and future years, the most significant element of which is annual payments of just over £2m to Airwave O_2.

6. The delivery of the Airwave Service has been a challenging task, offering numerous issues to overcome both on a national and local basis. Many of the issues have been resolved in order to provide what is now the main communication system operated in the Constabulary. The overall objectives were to deliver an encrypted communication system to replace a dated, although very effective, analogue radio system. This has been achieved. The benefits within the Constabulary are only just starting to come to fruition but will continue to expand as the system evolves.