Before you go Morris, under the new plans contrary to this threads SoP, there
will be better services and efficiencies, for some straight away, for others later.
Yes there will clearly need to be a lot of tweeking here and there, even so far as the possible re-birth of some units
and we all know this wasn't introduced in the best of ways.
Under the 'borderless', 'nearest aircraft goes to task', way of working, (call it the NPAS plan if you will), some, not all, parts of the country will actually be seeing a helicopter more often... if it is needed.
From personal experience, living in a town with a population of 25,500+, tourist visitors annually in the region of 4 million, a river and canal system, huge areas of countryside and host to many major festivals, we hardly saw the force helicopter, maybe as we are quite a way (20 mins flying?) from the ASU base or maybe because the jobs simply weren't there. Yes it would occasionally be in the area, but possibly not as often or as quickly as local officers would like.
Under the new system, instead of having the 'local helicopter' more than 30 miles away, it is now half that distance. Surely that
is more efficient and
is providing a better service locally at a regional level. (We aren't national yet!)
p.s. SoP does not stand for 'Statement of the Oldest Person'!