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NATIONAL POLICE AIR SERVICE (NPAS) NATIONAL STRATEGIC BOARD (MEETING NUMBER 32) BUDGET SETTING MEETING
30 January 2020 PRESENT NAME REPRESENTING PCC Mark Burns-Williamson OBE Police and Crime Commissioner for West (MBW) – Chair Yorkshire police – Lead Local Policing Body CC John Robins QPM (JR) West Yorkshire Police – Chief Constable & PAOC Holder Ch. Supt Scott Bisset (SB) NPAS Chief Operating Officer Katherine Johnson (KJ) Treasurer – West Yorkshire Office of Police and Crime Commissioner Jayne Sykes (JS) Interim Chief Executive – Office of Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire Glenn Shelley (GS) NPAS Head of Business Services Ruth Langley (RL) Finance & Commercial Services Director - West Yorkshire Police Janine Nelson (JN) Solicitor, Legal Services, West Yorkshire Police T/ACC Jason Masters (JM) NPCC Aviation Programme Board Caroline Peters (CP) – (by phone) NPCC Aviation Programme Board PCC Barry Coppinger (BC) – (by Police and Crime Commissioner for phone) Cleveland - North East Region Nikki Leach (NL) representing CC Staff Officer to CC Watson - South Stephen Watson (SW) (by phone) Yorkshire Police – North East Region PCC John Campion (JC) – (by Police and Crime Commissioner for West phone) Mercia – Central Region
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Vivian Stafford (VS) representing Chief Executive – Office of Police and Crime PCC Peter McCall (PM) – (by Commissioner for Cumbria – North West phone) Region DAC Laurence Taylor (LT) Metropolitan Police Service – London Region CC Darren Martland (DM) (by Cheshire Police – North West Region phone) PCC Anthony Stansfeld (AS) (by Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames phone) Valley - South East Region (representing CC Giles York) – (by Sussex Police – South East Region phone) ACC Dave Miller (DMi) - (by Sussex Police – South East Region phone) PCC Dafydd Llywelyn (DL) - (by Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed- phone) Powys – South West Region Robin Merrett (RM) – MOPAC Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime Darryl Preston (DP) Association Police & Crime Commissioners Shakila Bukhari (SBu) Policing Directorate, Home Office Jenny Walker (JW) NPAS Head of Communications & Marketing Melanie Jaundziekars (MJ) NPAS Executive Office Manager
APOLOGIES NAME REPRESENTING Daniela Pretelt Harries (DPH) Law Enforcement Transformation Unit Home Office PCC Peter McCall (PM) Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria – North West Region CC Rod Hansen (RH) NPCC Aviation Lead - Gloucestershire Police – Chief Constable - South West Region Ollie Dismore (OD) NPCC Aviation Review Team
The Chair, PCC Mark Burns-Williamson (MBW) opened the meeting and invited introductions from those in the room and dialling in on the conference call facility.
1. APOLOGIES
Noted and recorded.
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
No interests were declared.
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3. BUDGET AND PROPOSED CONTRIBUTIONS 2020/21
Ruth Langley (RL) detailed the proposed revenue budget for NPAS for the financial year 2020/21 which has been calculated at £44.435m and is an increase of £1.87m above last year.
The main causes of the increase relate to pay which is mainly attributable to the 2.5% pay award inflation and increase in pilot salaries for market factor payments. RL advised the fixed wing aeroplanes would become operational shortly which will also have associated revenue costs. Aircraft parts spend is projected to increase due to the ageing fleet and an increase in the need for maintenance.
RL advised there had been reductions of £1.54m across a number of budget areas as NPAS continually review costs with the aim of reducing expenditure where possible.
RL advised members that the NPCC Finance Committee had made an offer to the Board to look at different methods to allocate costs for 2020/21 with a view to reporting at a future Board meeting. Due to time constraints, Board members were unable to accept this offer.
MBW reminded Board members that under the current S22 agreement any budgetary decisions were made by the Police and Crime Commissioners. MBW stated the current funding formula had between 75%-80% fixed costs with a small element being variable. MBW advised he had written to Kit Malthouse, Policing Minister to arrange a meeting during February to highlight some of the strategic challenges in transitioning to a new model.
SBu advised the Policing Minister would want to hear and understand some of the challenges around the funding and will be arranging a meeting as soon as possible as this is a priority for the Policing Minister.
LT stated the proposed budget for next year does not deliver what Forces require it to which is recognised across regions. LT advised at the recent NPAS Independent Assurance Group (IAG) regional representatives had stated some forces were calling for NPAS then standing the aircraft down before it arrived on scene which incurs significant cost. LT reiterated that the MPS were uncomfortable with the proposal for the budget and could not justify the amount and therefore were unable to vote for it. RM echoed this.
SB stated that he fully acknowledged the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) position and this was evidence of how behaviours, driven by the funding model were undermining the sustainability of the service.
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A conversation took place regarding forces cancelling NPAS before the aircraft arrived on scene which is a practice that needs addressing, as some forces appeared to be gaming the system. It was suggested sending some form of guidance to forces on behalf of the Board to address the issue. It was recognised that the location of some of the NPAS bases can drive some of the demand perversely and it was agreed the funding model requires a fundamental review.
Proposed Contributions 2020/21
LT highlighted that at Chief’s Council meeting in January 2019, it was agreed the funding formula would be reviewed by the NPCC Aviation Review team and it was disappointing that there had been no change to the funding model within the last 12 months.
RM proposed maintaining last year’s funding model and allow an element for inflation otherwise the model rewards gaming and may focus people’s minds going forward and to hold the NPCC review team to account to deliver a different model.
JM advised Chief Constables have supported a service to regions based on direct costs commencing 2021 with 2020 being a transitional year.
Three options were presented to Board members:
the current model which was based on Actioned calls to service with no dampening two further options which included an element of dampening.
KJ advised that the actioned calls for service model was first introduced in 2016/17 and within this period and 2017/18 did have an element of dampening.
PCC Board members all voted. AS, JC and BC voted for the current model without dampening.
DL advised he would be happy to go with one of the two dampening options but was content to go with the majority.
RM advised he wanted a totally different model but would be prepared to vote for the most dampened model.
MBW advised he would take a pragmatic approach and would support the option with the greatest degreed of dampening OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE OPERATIONAL
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VS stated she did not feel confident to agree one way or the other and was not in a position to provide a definitive decision on behalf of the North West region. VS raised concern regarding the recommendations and advised her preference would be to discuss the three options with the Police and Crime Commissioners in the North West region and return with a preferred option. VS recognised a decision may be taken at the meeting based upon the number of votes cited.
Board members agreed to making a decision at the meeting as it was acknowledged and agreed that all members had received the papers at the same time and had the same time to consider the options.
Board members carefully considered whether next year’s contributions from forces should include a 12 month period of dampening, reducing both the costs and benefits to a number of forces. This was not supported. The Board voted for the full cost of air support utilised by each force to be charged without dampening.
Resolved:
The 2020/21 revenue budget was approved The recommendation to utilise the reserve funding was approved. Appendix C was agreed as the proposed contributions. This method is based on using the actioned calls to service model with no adjustments/dampening.
Action 32.1 – A letter to be sent to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables from MBW and JR advising each force of their 2020/21 contributions.
NPCC Aviation Review
Due to the amount of time taken to set the budget, it was agreed that Board members would receive a copy of the powerpoint that was due to be presented at the meeting and JM would discuss this with members by telephone.
MBW advised members that a working group would be established and stated there needed to be a substantive agenda item at the next APCC general meeting to update all colleagues on the progress of the aviation review.
Action 32.2 - DP is to ensure ‘NPCC Aviation Review’ is a substantive agenda item at the APCC General Meeting
JN queried whether JM and his team had obtained any legal advice in regard to the aviation strategy review and, in particular the proposals that had been put forward. OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE OPERATIONAL
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JN stated that as part of the due diligence completed when initially setting up NPAS, advice was taken from a QC to ensure that the delivery model proposed for the lead force to provide air support was permissible under the powers conferred by s22A of the Police Act 1996.
JN advised that the Home Office project team also obtained advice from solicitors to assess the procurement law risks associated with the implementation of NPAS and whether the proposed lead force model would fall within one of the exceptions in the Public Contracts Regulations which meant that the police forces were not required to comply with the Regulations when they joined NPAS.
JN advised her view is that if the delivery model is changed for NPAS and in particular forces become responsible for the TFOs and command and control, and the lead force is only an internal provider of aircraft/pilots/maintenance then further advice needs to be sought to ensure that what is being proposed is lawful.
JM stated advice had been sought from lawyers working for APACCE in regard to the National s22 template but not in regard to the points JN has raised.
Action 32.3 - JM is to arrange for one of his team to contact JN to establish what legal advice is required so that this advice can be taken.
MBW requested that at the first working group meeting the presentation that was due to be delivered at today’s meeting is given to attendees.
Action 32.4 – JM to present the powerpoint to the attendees at the first working group meeting
JR asked for clarity as to which team is consulting on the next funding models and whether this is the NPCC Aviation Review team, APCC or NPAS.
JM stated the terms of reference for a regionally based service based on direct cost element needs to be a joint piece of work with the NPAS team and the NPCC including the wider board with proposals going to the APCC.
LT advised the MPS were not prepared to pay their charges for 2020/21 and will be taking legal advice around the options and models. MBW advised there is a process in place regarding arbitration.
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4. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
MBW advised Board members that PCC Barry Coppinger and PCC Anthony Stansfeld would be standing down at the next election. MBW on behalf of Board members and NPAS, thanked Barry and Anthony for their continued and valued support and wished them both all the best for the future.
BC thanked MBW as Chair of the Board for his hard work which at times has been in very difficult circumstances.
Date and time of next meeting: 18 March 2020 – 13:00 – 16:00
NPAS Doncaster, Hangar 0, Second Avenue, Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster, DN9 3GB
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