PCD 1382 NPCC Drone BVLOS funding

PCD 1382 NPCC Drone BVLOS funding

This paper seek approval to accept Home Office grant funding in 2022/23 for a programme to develop national capability for safe and effective operation of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Drones. In addition the paper seeks approval to bid for and accept Home Office funding of £656,450 for this programme of work in 2023/24 and up to a ceiling value of £5m p.a. in future years. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve the acceptance of £656,450 grant funding from the Home Office for the NPCC BVLOS Drone programme for the period 01/04/2022 to 31/03/2023.  

2. Approve to bid for and accept Home Office grant funding up to a ceiling value of £5,000,000 per annum to support the programme in 2023/24 and future years. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

1. MOPAC hosts the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). The Home Office has made an offer of grant funding to the NPCC, and under the Collaboration Agreement MOPAC must consider requests to approve the acceptance of grant funding. 

2. Issues for consideration 

1. The NPCC is seeking to develop a BVLOS capability for police drone operations.  This programme will aim to achieve a safe and effective BVLOS capability for drones in policing across all police forces in England and Wales. It will achieve this through robust governance, standardisation of procurement, training and operational guidance and the sharing of resource and expertise across a wide and varied, but centrally co-ordinated, network of experts and practitioners.    

2. Currently all drone operations are limited both by technological capability and a restrictive safety framework that insists on a drone operator maintaining a visual line of sight (VLOS) with the drone at all times. A BVLOS capability would enable drones to be deployed for longer, with less operational burden in terms of vehicles and officers’ support at a scene, at a dramatically reduced cost. 

3. The work undertaken by the programme will provide a pathway for all police forces in England & Wales to follow to achieve an enhanced air support capability to police their communities. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. The grant award for 2022/23 is £656,450, and the NPCC has assured that has been/will be spent within the financial year.   

2. The NPCC also seek approval to bid for and accept Home Office grant funding in respect of this programme for 2023/24 and future years up to a ceiling value of £5m p.a.  

3. NPCC assure that spend will be contained within the HO grant, NPCC budget and reserves, and that there is no financial liability to MOPAC. 

4. Legal Comments 

1. The legal powers applicable to MOPAC acceptance of the Grant will be under Schedule 3, Paragraph 7 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 which provides that,  

• 7(1) The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime may do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office. 

• (2)That includes—  

• (a) entering into contracts and other agreements (whether legally binding or not);  

2. Paragraph 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve all bids for grant funding. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. There are no commercial implications. 

6. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.   

2. NPCC assure that the programme does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no current GDPR issues to be considered. 

7. Equality Comments    

8. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

9. NPCC assure that this business case has undergone an initial equality screening. Due regard has been taken of the Equality Act’s Public Sector Equality Duty. Real consideration has been taken to assess equality impact caused by the proposed business changes. As a result no positive or negative impact has been identified to any individual and/or group safeguarded by a protected characteristic and those who are not. 

8. Background/supporting papers 

• Appendix 1 MPS Report - NPCC Drones Beyond Visual Line of Sight