http://www.westmidlands-pcc.gov.uk/m...operations.pdf
National Police Air Service (NPAS)
38. The transfer of the West Midlands Air Operations Unit to the National Police Air Service took effect from 2nd October 2013. Air support to the 9 force central region (West Midlands/East Midlands) is now provided from 4 bases located at Birmingham, Ripley, Husbands Bosworth and Halfpenny Green.
39. Superintendent Miles, Operations Department, has been identified as the force SPOC to oversee day to day service delivery and he also chairs the central region Operations Working Group which meets on a quarterly basis and comprises of strategic leads from each of the nine forces. Issues identified are addressed with the NPAS regional manager. The group is informed by data provided in the national monthly performance document which has recently been introduced.
40. ACC Frost from Northamptonshire remains as the Central Region ACPO lead on the Independent Assurance group (IAG) with Chief Constable Rhodes (Lincolnshire) and PCC Ron Ball (Warwickshire) representing the central region at the Strategic Governance Board.
41. The collaboration agreement for the number of flying hours was agreed based on force usage in pre-NPAS arrangements. The figure was set at 1400hrs per annum with a pro-rata figure of 700hrs for the period Oct 2013-March 2014. The cost to WMP for 1400hrs is paid in advance and is non-refundable even if the hours are not used.
42. The 1400hrs figure included flying time for routine maintenance/servicing and was based on deployment criteria that were more flexible than the current NPAS model. As such, WMP has seen a significant reduction in the number of flying hours used and in the availability of air support.
43. For the period Oct 2013-March 14, 67% of the allocated 700hrs were used with a shortfall of 241hrs. For this current year to 3rd August 2014, 387hrs (27% of allocation) have been used. Predicted underspend of hours is likely to be in the region of 250hrs. Of note is the fact that only 9 of the 36 force structure are predicted to use all of their flying hours. Similar forces to WMP including Greater Manchester Police, West Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Police are all predicted to see significant underspends. Many smaller forces are predicted to overspend on allocated hours but there is no cost recovery element in place due to the national service provision.
44. The reasons for the underspend in hours include limited availability at certain times of day, the grading/priority criteria set by NPAS, increased flying time to incidents resulting in cancellations and, as previously stated, an over-estimate of the need based on pre-NPAS demand for air support. The system is, however, providing greater resilience for high priority incidents where air support may not previously have been available if the WMP aircraft was grounded due to maintenance.
45. Superintendent Miles has implemented a number of measures to address the shortfall in hours in order to gain maximum value from the current contract.
46. In April 2015 the charging arrangements for forces will change to a process where 73% of the costs will be charged on a pay as fly basis with the remaining 27% being charged for fixed costs such staffing, maintenance, command/control and the aircraft. The smaller element will be charged per force based on the force’s size, likely deployment levels and access/availability to aircraft. Also, those forces not currently within the NPAS structure will have joined the collaboration by April 2015 with the Metropolitan Police Service joining in Oct 2014.
47. From April 2015 the NPAS objective is to establish new funding arrangements introducing a standard pricing model with a fixed cost per hour of flying time. A paper has been circulated to PCCs after discussion at the Strategic Governance Board on 19th June 2014. In that paper the cost per hour for WMP is likely to rise by approximately 30% from the current £1200 per hour to a figure near £1600 per hour. Although this is of concern, the fixed price per hour will ensure that the force is not paying for hours that are not used.
48. Further discussion at the strategic level and an ‘in force’ review of the level of air support that is required will take place before a decision is made regarding funding arrangements for 2015.