Current Position

Given the delays to the Programme, the National Police Chiefs’ Council encouraged all forces to review resources assigned to supporting ESMCP. This resulted in a reduction of three police officers on the Police Scotland project team. The team is led by a Superintendent (combined with other responsibilities), a Chief Inspector and Inspector, with a number of police staff members also involved in specific pieces of project work, some on behalf of the three emergency services in Scotland.

As part of this review, a decision was made to reparent the project team to Contact, Command & Control Division (C3), recognising the significant mutual dependencies between the project and C3. This also resulted in a realignment of the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) from ACC Mark Williams to ACC Emma Bond.

The project team continues to support activity in Force and from the Programme. The reprocurement of User Services is progressing, with a Contract Notice issued to suppliers on 15 May 2023. This is to be followed by a Supplier Questionnaire and Evaluation process likely to conclude at the end of July 2023. The Programme is working to a timeline to sign a new contract for User Services at the end of June 2024.

Until ESN is available, Airwave will continue to be used by the emergency services and others.  This remains a stable and supported system.  The Home Office have provided guarantee that Airwave will be sustained until it is safe for services to transition to ESN. At this time, the target Airwave shut down date is the end of 2029. Until this date is reached Police Scotland will continue to review the requirement to replace current Airwave devices to ensure that operational policing is fully supported by reliable and resilient devices. This is managed by the Airwave Lifetime Management team within Digital Division.

In preparation for the migration to ESN, a significant amount of work is ongoing within Police Scotland. Coverage testing remains a key part of project activity to ensure that the future ESN provides the service needed. In Scotland, over 60% of Critical Operational Locations and 98% of road coverage has been tested to date. In addition, an extensive review of the original operational requirements set for ESN has been undertaken to ensure the Programme procures services and develops products that meet service requirements.  

The project team remains fully engaged with key stakeholders including Scottish Government (as the project funding sponsor), the National Programme and other blue light services in Scotland through the 3 Emergency Services Scotland (3ESS) structure.

On 18 April 2023, the project team and C3 Division hosted The Programme Director, Mr Simon Parr, and Delivery & Deployment Director, Mr Niall Stokoe, on a visit to Scotland.  This was a useful event to hear first hand from the Programme on the approach being taken to procurement and the planned timelines, as well as the opportunity to discuss delivery of ESMCP in Scotland. The event was also attended by officials from Scottish Government and the 3ESS community. Mr Alasdair Hay represented the SPA at this meeting.