Current portfolio

Emergency Services Mobile Communications

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £18.1bn
Published schedule: 01/06/2011 – Low: 01/02/2030, Mid: 30/11/2030, High: 30/11/2030
NISTA delivery confidence: AMBER
Senior responsible owner: Simon Parr

What the project is for

The Programme aims to replace Airwave, the current mobile communications service used by the 3 Emergency Services and other public safety users. The new service is called the 'Emergency Services Network' (ESN) and will operate over a 4G LTE commercial mobile network, enhanced to meet the public safety requirements for coverage, functionality, availability and security.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the NISTA/SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 remained at AMBER after the NISTA Gate 0 review in November 2025.

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same.

Cost

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the projects departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26 remained at £19,181m. This is due to them being based on the same 2024 business case. An updated business case which would amend these whole life cost figures is still awaiting final Treasury approval but will be reflected in future submissions.

Benefits

The Programme's departmentally agreed benefits at 2025/26-Q4 remained at £2,350 million (PV) over 19 years. This remains identical to financial year 2024/25-Q4. This is due to the 2025/26 PBC not yet having Chief Secretary to HM Treasury clearance. Please note the 2025/26 PBC has been cleared by Home Office Investment Committee following Funding Sponsor Bodies clearance. It has also obtained clearance from HM Treasury / NISTA.

Delivery ratings

NISTA assessment: AMBER
SRO assessment: Not disclosed

These are the published NISTA and senior responsible owner assessments, not UK Pulse scores.

Financial year

Baseline: £1.0bn
Forecast: £512.1m
Variance: 49.9%

The budget variance exceeds 5%. This is primarily due to the following factors: 1. Core Costs –The financial year baseline contains all costs (core, non-core, and legacy) related to the programme. Core programme costs are apportioned by agreed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) percentages for the relevant Funding Sponsor Bodies (FSBs) to make their contribution. The Financial Year Forecast contains only the net core costs borne by the Home Office. 2. Non-Core Costs – Non-Core Costs are borne directly by individual User Organisations and so, whilst they are modelled in the Financial Year Baseline, they are not all captured in the Financial Year Forecast. 3. Awarding of Major Contracts – The baseline is taken from the most recent approved business case, endorsed by HMT/CST on 14 November 2024, since which 2 significant contracts have been placed. Though these contracts have not greatly changed the whole life cost, they have resulted in costs being re-profiled.

Expected benefits

£3.7bn

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