Regulation and compliance

Whilst our core purpose is to support the delivery of policing in England and Wales, like every aviation organisation in the UK, we must comply with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations to ensure we run safe operations above all else.

As the name suggests, our Accountable Manager must provide assurance of our compliance to the NPAS National Strategic Board and is held accountable by the CAA for meeting our regulatory requirements.

In 2024/25, the CAA carried out 13 audits on different aspects of the service, including an annual headquarters audit.

In addition, the in-house NPAS Compliance Team conducted 72 internal audits.

Nine of these were in response to safety reports which had been raised internally through our Safety Management System (SMS). This demonstrates an open, transparent and effective link between safety and compliance and reflects our strong, internal safety culture.

In total, 63 findings were raised through internal and external audits.

Of these, 49 related to standard operating procedures and work instructions, resulting in improvements being made to our service effectiveness.

There were also 15 findings relating to aircraft maintenance, which have led to improvements in the way we, and our engineering providers, plan for, and deliver, routine and
ad hoc maintenance.