Airwave in London Underground

Report: 7
Date: 08 April 2005
By: by the Clerk and the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides a progress report on the provision of the Airwave radio Service in London Underground Stations.

A. Recommendation

That members note the progress made.

B. Supporting information

1. As noted in previous reports British Transport Police has primary responsibility for policing the London Underground. For the MPS, neither the existing Metradio system nor its replacement, the national Airwave system, will function in London Underground stations that are not open to the sky; these are collectively known as Section 12 Stations (S12).

2. This poses a risk at two levels. The first is the ability of the MPS to respond effectively to a serious or catastrophic incident in the Underground; the second is that faced by officers who are deployed to Underground stations for day-to-day policing tasks.

3. London Underground Limited is in the process of upgrading their radio system through the ‘Connect’ Project and coincidently has chosen the same radio infrastructure supplier as Airwave. Whilst this affords the opportunity to provide a compatible solution, the complexity of implementing the Airwave system into London Underground cannot be overstated. In the past three years major commercial and contractual issues, arising through the involvement of ‘risk averse’ companies, has resulted in slow and at times non-existent progress. However, the importance of radio communication for the MPS in the underground has now been fully recognised by the Home Office and as a results Leigh Lewis, Permanent Secretary of State at the Home Office, has been appointed as the Senior Officer (SRO) responsible for delivering a solution.

4. The SRO has made funding available to research potential solutions and appointed a senior official to chair the programme board which comprises representatives from PITO, Home Office, MPS, MPA, City of London Police, Ambulance Service, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, London Underground and Airwave contractors. The aim is to begin the implementation of Airwave on the underground from July 2006 but as the choice of technical solutions has not yet been determined, for various technical and commercial complications, it will be three years from now before it is completed.

5. There will be a period when Airwave is live above ground but not on the Underground. To cater for any major incidents during that interval, PITO are working with contractors to develop and test portable, interim solutions though none has yet been chosen and implemented. If an incident did occur before the introduction of a temporary solution it would be handled in the same way as for the current Metradio system which also does not function underground.

6. If MPS personnel currently attend an incident at a S12 station there are specific procedures and the officer/police staff involved must undertake a dynamic risk assessment. The latest research indicates that this happens about six times per day on average but no injuries have occurred as a result.

C. Race and equality impact

There is no implications direct arising from this report.

D. Financial implications

There are no direct costs associated with this report but the overall cost of providing Airwave on the London Underground could reach £130–£140 million. Funding has not been discussed thus far but over a period of time the point has been made that the MPS has no duty or funding to police the Underground. Clearly the MPS will always respond to a major incident but as the issue is one of national and capital security and/or resilience then the costs must be borne on a national or capital city basis.

E. Background papers

• Airwave paper to CGC 2 December 2004

F. Contact details

Report author: Keith Dickinson, MPA.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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