The cost implications of policing public order events

Report: 10
Date: 30 July 2009
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out the policing costs associated with major public order events between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009.

A. Recommendation

1. That the Committee notes the report.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is regularly required to police events for reasons of public safety or because of the potential of crime or disorder. A report detailing the cost implications of policing public order events has been provided to the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) since June 2001. Initially the report presented the cost implications of policing public order events that required the deployment of more than 500 officers. This position of reporting on the cost implications of the deployment of more than 500 officers continued annually until 2004. The report was then revised to provide a more complete picture of public order policing by including events where 300 or more police officer shifts were dedicated to an event. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the cost of policing such events from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009.

2. The largest events in terms of deployment during the reporting period included:

• G20 Summit and associated demonstrations
• Notting Hill Carnival
• Gaza related protests
• New Years Eve celebrations
• Visit by George Bush
• Olympic Torch Relay

Costing Methodology

3. In policing such events, resource requirements are assessed and requested by Public Order Branch and deployed through preparation of an Operational Policing Order. Typically, this document will set out the numbers of officers and support personnel to be deployed and will provide detailed operational instructions to govern their deployment. The operational policing order forms the basis of public order costs reported to this Committee.

4. The costing information reported to this Committee is prepared using a standard costing methodology so that input factors, for example, hours worked by police officers assigned to the event, are costed at an average rate per unit of input. Actual costs incurred may differ marginally from the standard costs but based upon previous comparisons the overall effect has proved not significant.

5. In the table (see Appendix 1), the column entitled “Opportunity Costs” refers to those resources diverted from other policing activities to be deployed on Public Order duties. Members are asked to note that, with the exception of overtime and other additional costs, a large proportion of costs quoted do not represent additional costs to the MPS. Rather, the officers and other staff assigned to a given operation would be otherwise assigned to other policing duties or operations. “Additional Staff Costs” relate to overtime and allowances and “Additional Other Costs” refer to all other support costs and other expenditure (e.g. Transport, Air Support, Catering, the provision of barriers and equipment).

Regular annual events

6. It is difficult to compare the cost of policing between years because of the varied amount and type of events that occur. There are several events that occur annually and the following events have been included in the annual Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) reports each year:

• New Years Eve celebrations,
• the London Marathon,
• Mayday Demonstrations,
• Trooping the Colour (the Queen’s Birthday Parade),
• the Notting Hill Carnival,
• The Festival of Remembrance,
• Remembrance Sunday and
• the State Opening of Parliament.

Appendix 2 compares costs and the number of officers deployed between 2007 - 08 and 2008 - 09 in relation to the regular events listed above. Deployment levels are based upon the number of people expected to attend the event, historical information, the latest available intelligence and the potential risk of disorder. This can vary significantly from one year to the next.

Notting Hill Carnival

7 The public order event that routinely incurs the most costs is the annual Notting Hill Carnival. The event requires the deployment of a large number of officers to ensure the safety of the public and keep order as well as using a large amount of technical equipment and barriers/cones etc. Communication related costs are also a factor that have been incurred to ensure optimum functionality of the Airwave system during the Carnival. As the event is held over a Bank Holiday weekend, overtime payments are made at an enhanced rate, which increases the cost to the MPS. The total estimated cost of policing the 2008 event was £6.5m. £3.5m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £3m is additional costs of which £2m is overtime and £1m is non-pay costs. The total estimated cost of policing the 2007 event was £6.2m with the increase in costs of approximately £0.3m due to the need to increase the Airwave capacity.

8. In July 2004, the MPA adopted a Policy to ensure that the MPS charged for the policing of commercial events on a full cost recovery basis but there should be no charge in respect of the policing of reputable community and charitable events because of the contribution made to community life in London. Under the definitions agreed by the MPA in July 2004, the Carnival is classed as a “Community” event and as such no reimbursement is sought.

Trooping the Colour

9. Trooping the Colour is a composite name for three separate events which occur over three separate dates. In 2007, the deployment in relation to the Major General’s Review and the Colonel’s Review events did not reach the 300-shift limit. The cost of these events was not included in the 2007 – 08 report. The 2008 events involved more than 300 police officer shifts, based on a deployment recognising the risk assessments surrounding the three events, and have been included in the 2008 - 09 report.

New Years Eve - central London celebrations

10. The relatively large number of officers deployed at this event is primarily due to the requirement to police an increasing geographical area in recent years. This is because of the addition of several new events such as the firework display held on and around the London Eye and along the Thames. In 2008, there has been an increase in additional costs of £0.2m when compared to the 2007 event due to improvements made to the MPS communication system (Airwave) to ensure it was capable of managing the volume of calls during the policing operation. The estimated total cost of the 2007 policing operation is £1.3m as compared to the total estimated cost of £1.1m for the policing of the 2007 event. £0.8m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.5m is additional costs of which £0.1m is overtime and £0.4m is non-pay costs.

Wimbledon All England Tennis Championship

11. The Wimbledon Tennis Championship has not been included in previous reports due to the daily police deployment being less than 300 officer shifts. However, given the duration and high profile nature of the event, a view has been taken that it should be included in this and all future reports. The estimated total cost of the related policing operation is £0.75m. £0.5m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.25m is additional costs of which £0.03m is overtime and £0.22m is non-pay costs. The All England Lawn Tennis Association have paid £0.7m for the policing of this event.

Specific Events

Protests associated with the conflict in Gaza

12. In December 2008 and January 2009, the conflict in Gaza gave rise to demonstrations on the streets of London. Organised demonstrations took place daily, from the 29 December 2008, outside of the Israeli Embassy. Large-scale demonstrations were also organised by groups such as the “Stop the War Coalition” and the “British Muslim Initiative”, which took place over several weekends and were directly associated to the conflict in Gaza. There were also smaller associated demonstrations held outside of the Egyptian Embassy and The American Embassy. The protests in London ended on 24 January 2009.

13. The estimated total cost of the related policing operation is £3m. £2.1m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.9m is additional costs of which £0.75m is overtime and £0.15m is non-pay costs. The estimated costs quoted in this briefing include the routine daily policing of the protests on the streets of London as well as the associated large-scale demonstrations held at weekends. No costs were recovered in respect of the policing of this event as it falls under the statutory responsibilities of the MPS.

G20 Summit

14. The G20 London Summit took place at the ExCel Centre in Docklands on 2 April 2009. The event was hosted by the Prime Minister and was attended by a number of World Leaders, including President Barack Obama. Although the actual Summit took place in April 2009, the policing operation occurred between the 24 March 2009 and 3 April 2009. Given the high profile nature of the event, the estimated costs of the total policing operation, not just to 31 March 2009, have been included in this report. The costs include the policing of the Summit and the associated demonstrations. The estimated total cost of the related policing operation, as at 3 July 2009, is £6.7m. £3.2m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £3.5m is additional costs of which £1.6m is overtime and £1.9m is non-pay costs (the figures will be updated once all costs have been collated).

15. The costs quoted above do not include the cost of the post event investigations. Once the investigations are complete a claim for reimbursement of the total additional costs incurred during the G20 operation will be submitted to the Home Office.

Olympic Torch Relay

16. London accepted an offer to host the fourth leg of Beijing Olympic Torch Relay. On Saturday 5th April 2008 the Beijing Olympic Flame arrived at Heathrow Airport from St Petersburg, Russia. On Sunday 6th April 2008, 80 Torch Bearers paraded the flame through the streets of London from Wembley Stadium to Greenwich via Brent, Kensington and Chelsea, City of Westminster, Lambeth, City of London, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham. The torch covered a distance of almost 53 km and was met with extensive protests along most of the route.

17. The estimated total cost of the related policing operation is £0.7 m. £0.5m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.2m is additional costs of which £0.1m is overtime and £0.1m is non-pay costs. No costs were recovered in respect of the policing of this event as it falls under the statutory responsibilities of the MPS.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no issues which impact upon race and equality in respect of the costing information provided in this report.

D. Financial implications

1. The MPS resources involved in the 58 public order / ceremonial events where 300 or more officer shifts were involved (recorded in Appendix 1), amount to 73,192 police officer and 3,201 police staff shifts at a total estimated cost of £30m. Police staff include Police Community Support Officers, traffic wardens, communication officers, catering staff, drivers, engineers etc.

2. The largest and most costly policing operations included:

• The G20 Summit at an estimated total cost of £6.7m
• The Notting Hill Carnival at an estimated total cost of £6.5m
• Protests associated to the conflict in Gaza at an estimated total cost of £3m
• The New Years Eve celebrations at an estimated total cost of £1.3m
• The visit by George Bush at an estimated total cost of £1.4m
• The Olympic Torch Relay at an estimated total cost of £0.7m

Cost Recovery

3. Under Section 25 of the Police Act 1996, the Commissioner can agree to requests from third parties to provide special police services, subject to the payment of charges agreed by the MPA. The charges for special police services agreed by the MPA annually as part of the annual Review of MPS Fees and Charges are calculated to recover full costs.

4. The Policy agreed by the MPA Coordination Policing Committee on the 19 July 2004 defined the type of events that the MPS would normally be required to police under four clear categories:

• Commercial Events - events where there is financial gain or profit to the organiser or company without specific community benefit, usually, but not exclusively, through members of the public having to pay an entry fee to gain access to the event. This includes football matches and other professional sporting events, music concerts/festivals, film premieres, filming in the street etc.
• Charitable Events - in this case there is financial gain but for non-profit charitable distribution. This includes the London Marathon and charity concerts etc.
• Community Events - these are not for personal or corporate financial gain, but may raise funds for community institutions, and are generally for community or local interest purposes. This includes carnivals and festivals, amateur sporting events, religious parades etc.
• Statutory Events - events where there is no financial gain to the organiser and which reflect a constitutional right or cause of specific royal, historical or public interest. This category includes state events, ceremonial events, public demonstrations etc.

5. In respect of the above definition, the current MPA policy is that no charges will be levied in relation to the policing of charity, community or statutory events. In January 2005, the MPA developed the policy further in respect of the policing of Community and/or Charity events by allowing charges for special police services to be levied on those occasions where it is clear that such events include aspects which are commercial for profit such as corporate hospitality and trading by exhibitors.

6. A total of 35 commercial events were held between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, which individually required the deployment of more than 300 police officer shifts. The estimated total cost of policing these events is £6.3m, of which the MPS recovered £3.1m. As requested by MPA Members at the Finance Committee meeting of 17 July 2008, an additional column has been added to the table at Appendix 1 detailing the income received for each “Commercial” event (charges were levied by the MPS for every event that met the current “Commercial” event criteria and payment has been received).

7. The discrepancy between costs incurred and costs recovered is mainly due to the cost recovery arrangements currently in place in relation to the policing of football matches. This is explained more fully in paragraph 8 below.

8. Under current arrangements the charges levied against football clubs are based upon the hourly rates for the special services of police as per Section 25 of the Police Act 1996. The costs recovered reflect the number of officers deployed inside of the stadium on match days. Under current arrangements with the football clubs the MPS cannot claim reimbursement for officers deployed outside of the stadium.

9. There is currently an ongoing dialogue at a national level in relation to the policing and charging policy adopted by police forces in respect of the policing of football matches. Police forces are looking to have a consistent robust, legally sound approach to the charging arrangements with their respective football clubs in keeping with the Judgement of the Court of Appeal hearing between Greater Manchester Police and Wigan Athletic Football Club.

10. The Wigan ruling is considered to have provided police forces with further clarification on their ability to charge for Special Police Services. It now brings into the equation areas under the control of the Club on match days which could be outside of the physical confines of the Stadium (car parks etc.). ACPO are taking the lead in pursuing more clarity around the legislation surrounding Special Police Services through Government.

E. Legal implications

1. The MPS Directorate of Legal Services has confirmed that no damages have been paid in relation to the policing of the public order events between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009. To date, there has been one claim associated with the recent G20 protests, which is in relation to damage to property – this case is ongoing and no damages have been paid to date. It is possible that more claims associated with the G20 protests will be made and details of these will be provided once known.

F. Background papers

• MPA Finance Committee 17 July 2008 Report Number 5 (The Cost Implications of Public Order Events)
• MPA Full Authority 20 December 2007 Report Number 9 (A review of the Metropolitan Police Authority policy on charging for events)

G. Contact details

Report author: Karim Mahamdallie, Director of Business Support, Finance Services

For information contact:/p>

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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