Crabb silent over police helicopter

JONATHAN EDWARDS has criticised Stephen Crabb for failing to raise the question of police helicopter provision before Parliament was dissolved on Monday (Mar 30).
The Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP requested the intervention of Home Secretary Teresa May, after it was announced that the National Police Air Support (NPAS) had decided to close their Pembrey base.
A similar call for action by Stockton South MP James Wharton led to Mrs May requesting a review of the decision to relocate the Durham Tees valley helicopter to Newcastle.
Speaking to the Herald, Mr Edwards said that he had previously asked Mr Crabb, the Secretary of State for Wales, to raise this matter but ‘it is clear that he has not done so’.
The Dyfed-Powys Police force covers the second largest land area of any UK constabulary. Scrapping the Pembrey base would mean that the nearest helicopter bases would be in Flintshire and the Vale of Glamorgan.
Mr Edwards said: “Over the weekend I read that the Home Secretary has ordered a review into the relocation of a police helicopter in the north of England. In my mind there should the same level of review in the case of Dyfed Powys too, not least because our helicopter covers two-thirds of our country. Now, just hours before Parliament dissolves, my last act has been to seek the urgent intervention of the Home Secretary so that the decision to scrap the Dyfed Powys helicopter is looked at properly. This is signifies how strongly I believe in protecting this service. The police helicopter is a vitally important local asset and I will pursue all avenues possible to ensure it is saved.”
The fate of the Pembrey base has been under discussion for some time. Dyfed-Powys and South Wales Police forces were both due to join the NPAS system in the summer of 2013, but had renegotiated over concerns regarding the amount of support they would receive.
Last November it was announced that the Dyfed-Powys helicopter would remain at Pembrey until it was replaced with like-for-like NPAS coverage. The decision made in February to close the Pembrey base was described by Dyfed Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Christopher Salmon as ‘deeply disappointing,’ and stated that the decision to join the NPAS had ‘included the retention of Pembrey as an operating base’.
Helicopters are used as a cost-effective way of searching large areas. According to Dyfed-Powys Police, a helicopter can search an area of one square mile in 12 minutes at a cost of £160. The same operation would take 12 officers 454 man-hours and cost £4,500.
Other than search operations, the Dyfed-Powys helicopter plays a major role in transporting casualties to hospitals, which given the rural nature of the region is often essential. In Milford Haven alone the service was called into action twice in March in this capacity after a child was hit by a car and a crewman suffered a severe injury on an LNG tanker.