Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of fixed wing aircraft compared to helicopters in providing air support to police operations.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a collaboration of English and Welsh Police Forces. The operational performance of the service, decisions as to how aircraft are deployed and recruitment are matters for NPAS and the Strategic Board which oversees its work, comprised of Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners.

NPAS publish an annual report outlining the service’s performance and financial position. The Home Office does not collect performance information on NPAS. In an article of 18 April, on the West Yorkshire Police website, NPAS published information describing the next steps in introducing new fixed wing aircraft to operational police activity. The detail of how the police will use these new aircraft to complement their existing helicopter fleet is an operational matter for NPAS.

Police officers from all English and Welsh forces were invited to apply for secondments in NPAS through a recruitment campaign run in April 2019.