National Police Aviation Service

Early day motion 1675, tabled 22 March 2021 by Jonathan Edwards (Independent). Signed by 5 members.

This House notes with concern that fixed wing aircrafts purchased by the National Police Aviation Service (NPAS) at a cost of £10 million to replace helicopters are to be decommissioned because they are unsuitable for policing requirements; further notes that before the creation of NPAS, police forces in Wales and England operated individual force services and that Dyfed Powys police force was the first to operate a dedicated helicopter support provision; notes reported concern among individual police forces in relation to the effectiveness of the pooled service and that flying hours per year have nearly halved since NPAS was created, from 29,840 hours in 2010 to 16,833 hours in 2018; recognises that Scotland and Northern Ireland have been able to maintain their dedicated helicopter services as policing is devolved in those nations; calls on the Home Secretary to urgently review the adequacy of the £42 million per annum NPAS budget and the effectiveness of the pooled service with a view to returning to individual force provisions; and further calls on the UK Government to devolve policing to Wales so that policing policy in Wales is based on the interests of Welsh citizens and communities.

Signatures by party: Plaid Cymru 3, DUP 1, Independent 1.