National Police Air Service

National Police Air Service
National Police Air Service
Agency overview
Legal personality	Police unit
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	England and Wales
Operations jurisdiction	England and Wales
	National Police Air Service's jurisdiction in the United Kingdom
General nature	Civilian police;
Operational structure
Headquarters	West Yorkshire Police Operations Centre, Wakefield, England.
Website
	www.npas.police.uk

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales as well as the British Transport Police. It replaced the previous structure whereby police forces operated their own helicopters, either individually or in small consortia (such as the South East Air Support Unit).^[1] The project was coordinated by Alex Marshall (the then Chief Constable of Hampshire Police).^[2] West Yorkshire Police is the lead force^[2] and the service is coordinated from the NPAS Operations Centre, at Wakefield, West Yorkshire.^[3]

Criticism

There was some initial criticism from forces around the service provided by NPAS when it began operation. This was primarily due to the reduction in number of bases and aircraft available, following general cuts by the UK Home Office to police funding. This led to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services conducting a case study of NPAS with its conclusions made public on 30 November 2017. The report commented at some length on the governance and funding of the service provided. The report specifically stated that there was no criticism of NPAS staff or its operational delivery. HMRCFRS included the following observation in its press release:^[4]

With the number of bases being halved and the number of aircraft being cut by a third in the last 10 years, savings have primarily been made by cutting the service provided to forces rather than increasing efficiency. An inconsistent service means that many incidents requiring air support are over before a police helicopter can arrive. Moreover, we are concerned that the police service now operates insufficient aircraft to provide a consistently prompt response to incidents in all forces in England and Wales.

However, the ability of NPAS to provide seamless provision of air support across force boundaries meant that it was able to provide a fast response and prolonged aerial coverage at a series of major incidents, such as the 2017 terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, and the Grenfell Tower fire.

History

Rollout

NPAS became operational on 1 October 2012,^[5] and was rolled out across England and Wales in stages.^[2] The service provides nineteen helicopters and four fixed wing aeroplanes, operating from fourteen bases.^[6]

The National Police Air Service suggested that the Police Scotland Air Support Unit join the service to reduce costs.^[7] However that did not materialise.

Base closures

In February 2015 it was announced that, due to a 14% cut in revenue over the following three years, NPAS would be closing ten bases over two years. As fixed wing aircraft are cheaper to fly, a new aeroplane base would be created. This new fixed wing base is at Doncaster Airport.^{[citation needed]}

Fleet

Airbus Helicopters H135 - 15^[8]
- 1 additional H135, formerly on long-term lease with the Norwegian Police Service, now serves exclusively as a training helicopter for new tactical flight officers.^[9]
Airbus Helicopters H145 - 4^[8]
Vulcanair P68R - 4^[8]^[10]