(i) The costs of introducing Airwave will more than double existing police expenditure on mobile communications. However, it is not certain that one of the key benefits expected from the new system - the ability of police officers to communicate with each other when operating outside their home force area - has not been rigorously evaluated. The Home Office and PITO did not give us any clear indication of the extent to which this facility would be taken up in practice. The Home Office and PITO should be able to demonstrate that each of the main facilities of the new system is in fact necessary for better policing.
(ii) Although some work had been undertaken to identify and value the potential benefits of Airwave, it is unlikely to provide an adequate framework for monitoring whether the benefits will in fact be achieved. We expect PITO to take forward the work of the Business Benefits Steering Group as a matter of priority and to be in a position to measure the benefits across police forces before Airwave is fully rolled out in 2005.
(iii) Throughout the procurement, police authorities expressed doubts about whether Airwave was affordable. To overcome these concerns, the Home Office decided at a late stage to pay police authorities some £500 million to finance the deal over the first three years. In seeking to secure additional benefits by procuring local services to a national plan, it is essential that users are convinced at an early stage in the procurement that a project is justified and affordable.
(iv) It was by no means clear to us who will bear the risk if concerns about the effects on health of using the Airwave system prove to be real. The Home Office should take early action as necessary to mitigate any risks once the outcome of current research is known.