Air Support Study HMI Matt Parr CB CCs Council 18 October 2017
Fleet size and utilisation Number of bases Hours flown 35 35,000 31 30 30,000 25 25,000 20 20,000 15 15 15,000 10 10,000 5 5,000 0 2008/09 2017 0 2008/09 2016
Study terms of reference To develop HMIC s understanding of police air support and, in particular, to establish: how well current arrangements for police air support allow the police service to adapt to changes in demand and technology; to what extent current arrangements for police air support contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of individual police forces; and how police air support might be further developed to better meet the needs of the police service and other public sector organisations.
Findings strategy and guidance governance fleet planning levels of service consistency of service between forces charging arrangements
Strategy and guidance last major air strategy review in 2009, which led to NPAS creation; strategy review due in 2013 has not yet been conducted very little APP on air support; no APP on the use of drones; insufficient clarity on expected outcomes from the use of air support NPAS has objective to harness innovation in aviation but, until very recently, has been largely silent on topic of drones limited awareness of NPCC guidance on drones and patchy communication on policy issues with forces
Requests to NPAS 3.5 3 2.5 South Yorkshire request rate nearly 5 times that of Kent North Wales rate 18 times higher than Cumbria 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Merseyside Bedfordshire South Yorkshire Avon & Somerset South Wales Surrey North Wales Gwent Gloucestershire Lancashire Dorset Cheshire Hertfordshire Northamptonshire Durham Cambridgeshire Thames Valley West Yorkshire Devon & Cornwall Essex Cleveland Wiltshire Warwickshire West Midlands Nottinghamshire Leicestershire Sussex Suffolk MPS Northumbria Dyfed - Powys GMP Norfolk West Mercia Kent Derbyshire Hampshire North Yorkshire Staffordshire Lincolnshire Cumbria Requests per 1000 pop England & Wales force average requests
Attendance rates 100% 90% 80% 70% wide variation in attendance rates (MPS 73%, Lincolnshire 23%) only 6 (of 42) forces had an attendance rate greater than 50% 10 (of 42) forces had an attendance rate lower than 33% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% MPS Durham Northumbria Dorset GMP Essex North Yorkshire BTP West Yorkshire Cleveland Suffolk Hampshire Kent Thames Valley West Midlands Cheshire Warwickshire Norfolk South Yorkshire Leicestershire South Wales Gwent Surrey Staffordshire Avon & Somerset Northamptonshire Merseyside West Mercia Cumbria Devon & Cornwall North Wales Sussex Lancashire Dyfed - Powys Nottinghamshire Gloucestershire Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire Wiltshire Derbyshire Bedfordshire Lincolnshire Proportion attended England and Wales rate
Average response times 01:12:00 01:04:48 00:57:36 00:50:24 wide variation (MPS 10.5 mins, Cumbria 66 mins) only 20 forces (of 42) had average response time of under 30 mins 00:43:12 00:36:00 00:28:48 00:21:36 00:14:24 00:07:12 00:00:00 Cumbria Dyfed - Powys Lincolnshire West Mercia Derbyshire Norfolk Nottinghamshire Staffordshire Gloucestershire North Wales Cambridgeshire Kent Devon & Cornwall Wiltshire Bedfordshire Warwickshire Hertfordshire Gwent North Yorkshire Hampshire Suffolk Sussex Cheshire South Yorkshire South Wales Lancashire Northamptonshire Avon & Somerset Merseyside Leicestershire Essex Thames Valley BTP Surrey Dorset Durham West Midlands Cleveland West Yorkshire Northumbria GMP MPS Average P1 and P2 calls received to on scene England and Wales average response time
Costs 2008/09-57.5m ( 45m revenue + 12.5m capital) to provide and operate 33 aircraft on a 10-yr replacement cycle 2017/18-50.5m ( 38.3m revenue + 12.2m capital) to operate 19 aircraft on a 15-yr replacement cycle (although 4/19 now 15+ yrs old) 4 fixed-wing aircraft already purchased but additional capital bid being prepared to provide helicopter replacement
Charging structure charges are based solely on the number of actioned calls for service by force in the preceding calendar year no allowance is made for differences in attendance rates or response times force perceptions of unfairness
as a proportion of NRE 0.9% 0.8% 0.7% 0.6% Dyfed-Powys proportion of NRE spent on NPAS was 20 times higher than Lincolnshire 0.5% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.0% Dyfed - Powys Cleveland North Wales South Yorkshire Suffolk Dorset Merseyside Gwent South Wales Cheshire Essex Lancashire Durham Warwickshire Northumbria Devon & Cornwall Avon & Somerset Surrey West Yorkshire Cambridgeshire Wiltshire Nottinghamshire Gloucestershire Northamptonshire Bedfordshire GMP West Midlands Derbyshire Thames Valley West Mercia Leicestershire Staffordshire Hertfordshire Sussex Hampshire MPS Norfolk Kent North Yorkshire Cumbria Lincolnshire Proportion of budget (NRE) spent on NPAS contributions 2016/17
Main recommendations (draft) develop new air support strategy keep NPCC and NPAS lead roles separate update all relevant APP assess demand comprehensively stagger NPAS shift change-over times between bases review aircraft deployment model clarify plans for the four new fixed-wing aircraft further develop performance reporting
Main recommendations (cont.) involve Specialist Capabilities Programme to develop force requirements for air support ensure all forces/local policing bodies consulted on imminent fleet replacement bid treat CT network as a force (for charging purposes) evaluate drone effectiveness assess the benefits and risks of wider collaboration with other public bodies and finally, what to do with the existing NPAS collaboration agreement
Next steps consult on recommendations and refine the draft publication by end 2017