The cost implications of policing public order events

Report: 08
Date: 15 July 2010
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Linked to exempt item 24

Summary

This report sets out the annual policing costs associated with major public order events between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010.

A. Recommendations

That the Committee notes the report.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is regularly required to police public events. A report detailing the cost implications of policing these type of 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 2009 to 31 March 2010. A full list of events and associated costs are included in Appendix 1.

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

• Tamil Ceasefire protests - estimated total policing cost of £12.8m.
• G20 Summit - estimated total policing cost of £7.4m.
• Notting Hill Carnival - estimated total policing cost of £6.6m.
• Summer Climate Camp - estimated total policing cost of £2.3m.

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 titled “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 number 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 as follows:

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

Appendix 2 compares costs and the number of officers deployed between 2008 - 09 and 2009 - 10 in relation to the regular events listed above (the DSEI Arms Fair is also included because this is a bi-annual event). 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 work with London Notting Hill Carnival Limited (the event organiser) 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 - additional costs were incurred ensuring 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 2009 event was £6.6m. £3.3m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £3.3m is additional costs of which £2m is overtime and £1.3m is non-pay costs. The total estimated cost of policing the 2008 event was £6.4m with the increase in costs of approximately £0.2m due to the need to further increase the Airwave capacity.

New Years Eve - Central London celebrations

8. 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. The estimated total cost of the 2009 policing operation is £1.32m. £0.88m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.44m is additional costs of which £0.07m is overtime and £0.37m is non-pay costs. The total cost of the 2008 event was £1.35m.

Specific Events

Tamil Ceasefire Demonstration

9. Daily protests in relation to the military, political and domestic situation in Sri Lanka occurred in and around Parliament Square and other central London locations such as the Sri Lanka High Commission and the Indian High Commission buildings between 6 April 2009 and 1 June 2009.

10. The estimated total cost of the related policing operation is £12.8m. £4.4m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £8.4m is additional costs of which £8.1m is overtime and £0.3m is non-pay costs. The estimated costs include the routine policing of the daily protests as well as the associated large organised demonstrations and marches. For example, on Saturday 11th April 2009, approximately 100,000 British Tamil Forum protestors gathered at Victoria Embankment and marched to Hyde Park.

G20 Summit

11. 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. The associated policing operation occurred between the 24 March 2009 and 3 April 2009. The costs include the protection of attendees, the policing of the Summit and also the associated demonstrations. The estimated total cost of the policing operation is £7.4m. £3.4m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £4m is additional costs of which £1.8m is overtime, £0.3m relates to payments made to other Forces for mutual aid provided and £1.9m is non-pay costs.

12. The MPS submitted a claim for reimbursement of additional costs incurred during the G20 operation to the Home Office and received £3.8m.

Summer Climate Camp

13. The Climate Camp is a loose affiliation of thousands of environmental activists that gather every year (since the first event in 2006 at the Drax Power Station, Selby, North Yorkshire) to protest against the industries and institutions they believe are causing global warming. The 2009 Climate Camp took place between 26 August and 2 September 2009 and was based on Blackheath. Throughout the week splinter groups carried out "direct actions" such as office occupations, scaling buildings and "protest picnics" at numerous locations around the capital. Targets included the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Rio Tinto and the European Carbon Exchange in Bishopsgate.

14. The estimated total cost of the associated policing operation is £2.3m. £1.1m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £1.2m is additional costs of which £0.1m is overtime, £0.9m relates to payments made to other Forces for mutual aid provided and £0.2m is non-pay costs.

Afghanistan Summit

15. The London Conference took place at Lancaster House, Stable Yard, St James’, London, SW1 on Thursday, 28 January 2010. The conference was co-hosted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Karzai and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It was co- chaired by the UK Foreign Minister David Miliband, his outgoing Afghan counterpart Rangin Spanta, and UN Special Representative to Afghanistan, Kai Eide. The Summit was attended by political leaders from the United States and Europe, as well as representatives from several key Middle Eastern countries, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia and the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

16. The cost of the policing operation includes the protection of attendees for the duration of their stay in London, an additional Yeman related conference on 27 January and the main policing operation on 28 January. The estimated total cost of the associated policing operation is £1.19m. £0.53m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.66m is additional costs of which £0.13m is overtime, £0.21m relates to payments made to other Forces for mutual aid provided and £0.32m is non-pay costs.

17. There is an opportunity for police forces to request support for policing costs under the special grant procedures. However as the cost of policing this event does not fall within the 1% rule on special police funding, the MPS was not able to recover any of its costs.

Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEI) Arms Fair

18. DSEI is the world’s largest fully integrated defence and security exhibition, bringing together senior international trade and military experts. The exhibition attracts more than 1,350 companies from 40 countries over four days. Around 26,500 people attend the exhibition annually. The 2009 event was held between 8 - 11 September.

19. The estimated total cost of the policing operation is £0.63m. £0.58m of the estimate is in relation to opportunity costs, £0.05m is additional costs of which £0.04m is overtime and £0.01m is non-pay costs.

C. Race and equality impact

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

D. Financial implications

1. The MPS resources involved in the 49 public order / ceremonial events where 300 or more officer shifts were involved (recorded in Appendix 1), amount to 88,586 police officer shifts and 4,130 police staff shifts at a total estimated cost of £41.6m. 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 Tamil Ceasefire Demonstrations at an estimated total cost of £12.8m
• The G20 Summit at an estimated total cost of £7.4m
• The Notting Hill Carnival at an estimated total cost of £6.6m
• The Summer Climate Camp at an estimated total cost of £2.4m

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 definitions, 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 24 commercial events were held between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010, which individually required the deployment of more than 300 police officer shifts. The estimated total cost of policing these events is £4.6m, of which the MPS recovered £1.9m. 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 that were in place in relation to the policing of football matches.

8. Under the arrangements the charges levied against football clubs were 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 the arrangements in place during the reporting period the MPS could not 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 recent case law.

10. Although there is a general belief that the discussions between ACPO and the Premier League/Football Leagues have been useful, there remains no common ground between the parties in respect of the fundamental point about the size of the policing ‘footprint’ on match days.

11. Key to this is the Leagues position on Home Office Circular 34/2000 which states “Full cost recovery for those officers deployed at football matches on the private property of the Club” taking account of the Wigan judgement. ACPO remain firmly of the opinion that the Wigan judgement supersedes the Home Office Circular and extended the ‘footprint’ of the ground to areas “which are under the control of the club and/or where the police presence is for the benefit of the club and the purposes of the match. ACPO’s view is that public land (and other land) can be included within the ‘footprint’ of a ground where the above criteria are met.

12. The ACPO position in regard to the ‘footprint’ was supported by the Home Office as set out in a response from the previous Labour Government In January 2010 to the findings of a Home Affairs Committee into the cost of policing football matches.

13. Both parties agreed to work together to keep police charges to a minimum and are encouraging clubs forces to review the categorisation of matches and the scale of deployments to ensure that they are appropriate. ACPO will also be seeking to have the Home Office Circular 34/2000 revised to reflect the impact of the Wigan judgement.

E. Legal implications

1. The statutory power to charge for special police services is dealt with at paragraph 3 of section D to this report. Section 25 of the Police Act 1996, as interpreted by the case law referred to at paragraph 9 above, requires that the special services agreement [“SSA”] must be clear as to the services to be provided and as to how the services will be costed and charged if the SSA is to be binding and enforceable. DLS advice has been provided to support the MPS contribution to the ongoing national dialogue referred to at para 9 above.

E. Background papers

• MPA Full Authority 20 December 2007 Report Number 9 (A review of the Metropolitan Police Authority policy on charging for events).
• MPA Finance and Resource Committee 30 July 2009 Report Number 10 (The Cost of policing Public Order Events 2008 - 09).

F. Contact details

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

For more information contact:

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

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