Governance and compliance
Governing the National Police Air Service and setting its strategic direction is the National Strategic Board.
Operations are delivered via a lead force model, which was established as part of a National Police Collaboration Agreement.
The Mayor of West Yorkshire is currently the lead policing body and legal entity of NPAS, with West Yorkshire Police the lead force and operator.
In June 2021, the Mayor gave notice to cease the arrangement, in accordance with the terms of a National Police Collaboration Agreement.
In 2022, the National Strategic Board instructed trusted partner BlueLight Commercial to establish an independent programme to identify potential options for the future hosting arrangements of NPAS from June 2024.
This work continues.
The National Strategic Board
In April 2022, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion stepped down as chair of the board and Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend took the position.
PCC Campion is thanked for his contribution to police air support during his time as chair.
North East region
PCC Jonathan Evison
Chief Constable Jo Farrell
North West region
PCC John Dwyer
Chief Constable Mark Roberts
West Midlands region
PCC Ben Adams
Chief Constable Debbie Tedds
East Midlands region
PCC Marc Jones
Chief Constable Rachel Swann
Eastern region
PCC Festus Akinbusoye
Chief Constable Ben Julian-Harrington
South East region
PCC Lisa Townsend (chair)
Chief Constable Jason Hogg
South West region
PCC Philip Wilkinson
Chief Constable Catherine Roper
Wales region
PCC Dafydd Llywelyn
Chief Constable Pam Kelly
London region
Head of Operational Oversight for Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime Robin Merrett
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor
Regulatory compliance
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for the regulation of all aviation safety in the UK.
As such, NPAS is required to comply with CAA regulations in addition to its own procedures, just like any air operator.
Assuring we comply with regulations is managed by our Compliance Monitoring Team, through a programme of internal and external audits.
These primarily focus on two key areas - flight operations (including training) and the continuing airworthiness of our aircraft.
The CAA also carries out an annual audit of our HQ management functions, as well having oversight of our base activities on a less frequent basis.
In addition, our internal team conducts audits with third-party suppliers, including engineering contractors, fuel providers and even small, independent airfields that we might sometimes use for re-fuelling.
Even our Compliance Monitoring Team is independently audited.
Audit schedule 2022/23 (text only)
Number of internal audits: 53 (including 4 no notice)
Number of external audits: 8
Following the Civil Aviation Authority’s annual audit in 2022, no findings were raised and there were no recommendations for improvements made.
Compliance trends 2022/23
Instances of non-compliance are recorded, and trends are analysed and monitored as part of a monthly Senior Leadership Team meeting.
In 2022/23, the main trend for non-compliance centred on non-conformance in following some procedures. In all cases, this is being addressed through greater scrutiny on procedural documents held by NPAS and contractors to identify and implement continual improvements.
Focus on safety
With an uncompromising focus on safety, NPAS is proud of its record in managing the many risks that inevitably come with delivering a 24/7 aviation service.
We have a strong safety culture, embedded throughout our organisation, which is reflected in the outcome of our annual internal and external safety audits.
Incidents, near misses and safety issues are reported, tracked and analysed through Centrik – an all-in-one management system, which helps ensure compliance in the highly-regulated and safety-critical aviation industry.
Along with a six-monthly internal Safety Review Board, chaired by the NPAS Accountable Manager, we also subscribe to the following national safety groups:
- UK Laser Safety Working Group
- UK Flight Safety Committee
- Civil Aviation Authority Skywise
- British Helicopter Association Technical Committee
- Civil Aviation Authority Onshore Safety Leadership Group
- Police & Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Safety Group
Risk management
The main risks facing NPAS have remained unchanged for five years.
These are declared annually to the Civil Aviation Authority, which seeks assurances that they are suitably monitored and managed.
They are:
1. Reduction in performance resulting from human error
2. Organisational change affecting the wellbeing of staff
3. Over reliance on single points of failure, such as limited
personnel able to carry out critical roles
4. Maintenance errors on the aircraft or equipment
5. Drones strike
The increasing presence of drones in shared airspace creates an ever-growing risk and highlights the importance of ongoing tactical deconfliction work which forms part of our Futures and Innovation work.
Serious incidents
We experienced no serious incidents in 2022/23.
Our overall record of reportable incidents remains in line with European industry expectations, as measured by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
It is estimated 85% of all reported laser attacks against helicopters in England and Wales are made against police aircraft.
Between January and December 2022, there were 58 such attacks. Between January and April 2023 there were 15.
NPAS will always gather evidence of a laser attack, report incidents to the local police force and robustly pursue prosecution through the courts.
Jail sentence for laser offender
A Wrexham man was jailed in November 2022 for shining a laser at a NPAS Hawarden crew.
The 58-year-old man was told by a judge: "Your actions could have had devastating and tragic consequences."
He was jailed for six months after he admitted to Mold Crown Court that he had pointed a red and green laser beam towards the helicopter in December 2021 as the crew searched for suspects.
Judge Nicola Saffman said: "The matter is so serious a deterrent message needs to be sent that people who use lasers towards and in the vicinity of helicopters should expect to receive custodial sentences."
It was reported that the offender had been drinking heavily. The NPAS crew identified his home and directed local police patrols to the address to make an arrest.