999 services face huge bills as Home Office 'disconnected from reality, MPs find

14 July 2023 , 07:50

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The Home Office was supposed to have its new Emergency Services Network (ESN) running by 2020 (Image: jamesmitchell)

Emergency services have been hit with massive unexpected costs because the Home Office is "completely disconnected from reality", MPs have said.

A bombshell report found that despite ploughing £2billion into the Emergency Services Network (ESN) communication, there is no evidence it will work.

The flagship system was supposed to be up and running by 2020 across police, fire and ambulance services - but it's still not clear when it'll be ready.

It means cash-strapped police forces, fire brigades and NHS trusts are facing "financial pressures as a result with no specific mechanism put in place by Government to help them bear these extra costs."

So far the project had not "delivered anything substantial or reduced any risks", the cross-party Public Accounts Committee said.

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Dame Meg Hillier accused the Home Office of being 'disconnected from reality' (PA)

Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: "The ESN project is a classic case of optimism bias in Government.

"There has never been a realistic plan for ESN and no evidence that it will work as well as the current system.

"Assertions from the Home Office that it will simply 'crack on' with the project are disconnected from the reality, and emergency services cannot be left to pick up the tab for continued delays.

"With £2 billion already spent on ESN and little to show for it, the Home Office must not simply throw good money after bad."

Despite admitting that the commercial approach to the project was "suboptimal", Dame Meg said the Home Office is "pursuing it regardless".

The report accuses the Home Office of appearing "complacent in its confidence that it could reduce the risks to the project, and its optimism appears disconnected from the reality of its performance to date and the challenges ahead."

Only "limited" progress can be made until the department finds a new supplier in the wake of Motorola's departure from the project. MPs called on the Government to come up with a plan by the end of 2023.

Telecoms company Motorola, which provides Airwave, was originally contracted to provide elements of ESN, but in 2021 the Home Office wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressing concern its profits from Airwave were "excessive" and acted as a disincentive for completing ESN on time.

After an initial estimate by the CMA that the company stood to make "super-normal profits" of £1.1 billion, Motorola told the Home Office it may not continue as a supplier to ESN beyond 2024 amid fears it could be forced by the CMA to sell Airwave.

At the end of 2022, the Home Office agreed to end the contract early, paying Motorola £45 million, taking the total spent with the company on the project to more than £300million.

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A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The Home Office and Motorola mutually agreed to terminate the contract to provide services for the Emergency Services Network last December. We have agreed that Motorola will provide some services for twelve months following this date.

"The Home Office is making good progress in procuring a new user services supplier."

Flora Thompson