Annual review of fees and charges

Report: 8
Date: 24 March 2011
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report

A. Recommendations

That Members:

1. review and approve the attached schedule of fees and charges.
2. approve the change to the method of promulgating the fees and charges throughout the MPS and to the public.

B. Supporting information

1. Section 18 of the Police Act 1996 (Supply of Goods and Services) provides the MPS, as with other police forces, with the legislative tool to charge for the supply of goods and services other than police officers. Section 25 of the Police Act 1996 (Provision of Special Services) allows forces to charge for special police services which they may provide in respect of the provision of police officers at the request of a third party.

2. The schedule of general fees and charges for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) can be classified under a number of specific categories. They are:

• MPS calculated fees and charges;
• Fees as advised by other Agencies;
• Fees and charges as detailed within statute or legislation.

Schedule of Fees and Charges

3. The range of fees/charges under the category of MPS calculated fees/charges include charges for the provision of copy documents, photographs, videotapes (and other means of recording video imagery i.e. DVDs) etc. required for civil proceedings and interviewing a police officer or member of the police staff in respect of Civil Court proceedings.

4. There are a number of charges, which are advised by other agencies such as charges for the taking of fingerprints of the public in relation to visa applications as advised by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) National Fingerprint Board.

5. Additionally, the Schedule includes charges set by statute or legislation such as the fee to be paid for the issue of a pedlars’ certificate as stated within the Pedlars’ Certificates (Variation of Fee) Order 1985.

6. Appendix 1 to this report provides a comprehensive list of the fees and charges as per the above categories. The charges will be effective from 1 April 2011 unless otherwise stated due to the impact of legislation.

Review of Charges for 2011 - 2012

7. ACPO recommends that the nature and level of such charges should be re-assessed at three yearly intervals to review their continuing relevance. A full review will be conducted in 2011-12 for implementation in 2012-13. ACPO recommends that outside of the full review programme, forces should apply inflation to the range of charges.

8. Accordingly it is recommended that the charges for the reproduction of copy documentation should be increased from 1 April 2011 to recognise the general assumptions made for pay and price inflation included in the supporting financial information in the Policing London Business Plan 2010/13.

9. It is recognised that the recently published inflation figure is 4% and that MPS pay will be frozen during 2011-12 - the increases included in the 2011-12 fees and charges reflect the agreed pay award of 2.5% for officer pay in September 2010, 2.5% for police staff in August 2010 and 2.5% for non pay elements as per the Policing London Business Plan 2010/13. The increase in the rate of VAT to 20% is reflected in the relevant charges.

10. Table 1 provides a summary of the charges for copy documentation for 2011/12 as compared to charges in 2010/11 identified through the aforementioned review.

Table 1 – Charges for common items – Comparative figures

Charges for Special Services of Police

11. On many occasions, the MPS provide policing services on private premises, such as sporting stadia and also in the provision of assistance for activities including filmmaking and traffic surveys. These policing services fall within the remit of Section 25 of the Police Act 1996.

12. The MPS make charges for these special police services, which are calculated to recover full costs. The charges include daily rates and hourly rates for police ranks up to and including Assistant Commissioner rank. There are additional charges in relation to other resources utilised on such events such as daily costs for police staff, including drivers, communication officers, daily costs for police horses, dogs and vehicles.

13. They incorporate a general administrative overhead recovery charge to recover non-pay and support costs and an overtime premium to reflect, in respect of Constables and Sergeants, that on many occasions, the policing resource is in addition to the normal duty time resource required to police the community.

14. Table 2 and Table 3 provide a comparison between current hourly charges for special services of police for Sergeants and Constables and proposed charges from 1 April 2011 under specific circumstances. The revised rates reflect average costs per rank, the 2010 pay award, adjusted average uniform costs and reduced employer’s pension contributions, based upon ACPO guidelines.

Table 2 – Charges for special services of police - Constable

Table 3 – Charges for special services of police - Sergeant

Special Constabulary

15. Specials are generally deployed on “small event” policing or to augment policing at larger events. There are no direct employment costs but they do incur a range of costs for uniform / equipment, travel and subsistence, training and the use of police vehicles and control equipment.

16. Although a special constable has the powers of a constable, the actual cost base for specials is demonstrably lower than regular officers. To reflect this, the charge for special services for a special constable is 50% of that for the equivalent rank for regular officers. The inclusion of such a charge is in line with a recommendation from the ACPO Guidance on Charging for Police Services.

Dogs and Horses

17. MPS Finance Services completed a review of the cost of the provision of special police services by horses and dogs during 2009 -10 to establish the full costs as part of the normal three-year review cycle. The approach taken was in line with ACPO recommendations on charging for special police services in the ACPO Guidance on Charging for Police Services.

Police Horses

18. The 2010 – 11 rates have been increased by 2.5% to reflect inflation.

19. The result of this is to increase the charge per day from £158.35 for each day or part of a day to £162.31 for each day or part with effect from 1 April 2011. The cost of the mounted officer will be charged separately at the appropriate level of charge for special police services

Police Dogs

20. The 2010 – 11 rates have been increased by 2.5% to reflect inflation.

21. The result of this is to increase the charge per day from £58.83 for each day or part of a day to £60.30 for each day or part with effect from 1 April 2011. The cost of the dog handler will be charged separately at the appropriate level of charge for special police services

Football Charging Arrangements

22. During 2009 ACPO produced guidance on how police forces should approach the cost recovery surrounding the policing of football. This was in light of Justice Mann’s ruling from the court case between Greater Manchester Police and Wigan Athletic Football Club in 2007 that when determining the provision of special police services, the location of where the special police services is provided is important but not determinative.

23. The Wigan ruling is considered to have provided police forces with the facility to charge for special police services for the deployment of resources on land and highways that the club has “control over” as part of the match outside of the physical confines of the Stadium (public roads, car parks etc.) which represents the ‘policing footprint’.

24. The discussions that have taken place nationally between ACPO and the Leagues to provide a common understanding and agreement on this issue have not been progressed as the Leagues believe the current direction from the Home Office Circular 34/2000 (Home Office Guidance on football related legislation) allows them to continue paying for only those policing resources deployed at football grounds on the private property of the owners of these clubs.

25. The ACPO lead on Policing of Football has written to the Minister of Policing with a view to having the Circular amended to extend the geographical footprint where charging for special police services applies to not only the stadium but also land in the vicinity of the stadium which is controlled for the purposes of the match and where the police presence is for the benefit of the club.

26. As at the date of this report the Home Office are considering their position as to how to develop the Home Office Circular and/or whether there is a need for current legislation to be revised to provide the necessary clarification.

27. Appendix 2 to this report details the full schedule of charges for the special services of police to be introduced on the 1 April 2011, once approved by the MPA Finance and Resources Committee on 24 March 2011.

Charges for Detention of Prisoners in MPS Cell Accommodation – UK Border Agency

28. Finance and Resources Committee in March 2010 approved a recommendation to support the ACPO negotiations with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in respect of a fixed cost model to cover all reasonable staffing levels and all ancillary costs including translation and health care provision.

29. Discussions have continued but there has yet to be any agreement reached between ACPO and UKBA about a scale of charges for the provision of this service. UKBA are seeking a charge at a level (£200 per detainee per night) which ACPO do not find acceptable as it does not reflect the full cost of this service. Additionally there is currently no agreement about an appropriate charge for supervising those immigration detainees who, due to their vulnerability, require constant supervision for which a more labour intensive supervisory regime is required.

30. In support of the ACPO discussions, Finance Services had identified a range of charges for normal supervision and close supervision, with an abridged version from the March 2010 report of the range of charges, reproduced below in Table 4 for illustrative purposes. Costs for FMEs and interpreters are additional to this depending on usage. A 5% administration charge is then included in al costs that are non-staff costs to make up the final charge to UKBA.

Table 4 – Charges for detention of prisoners in MPS cell accommodation

31. It is expected that the negotiations between ACPO and UKBA will be concluded during 2011/12 until which time the current MPA charges from April 2004 will continue to be applied.

Charges as advised by other agencies

Intruder Alarm Registration

32. Any change to the fee is agreed nationally by the ACPO Security Systems Group. The increase in the cost of the fee for intruder alarm registration in 2011/12 reflects the revised 20% rate of VAT effective January 2011. The charge has increased from £48.62 to £49.66.

Requests for Disclosure of Information from Regulatory or Governing Body

33. Under the Notifiable Occupation Scheme [1] , forces have an obligation to disclose certain information. Initial disclosure is without charge and sufficient information will be provided to conduct an adequate risk assessment in terms of the risk posed to children, vulnerable adults, national security and probity and administration of justice.

34. Occasionally, the regulatory or governing body will request further supporting information to aid their own internal investigations - dealing with such requests requires police forces to retrieve specific information and for decisions to be made regarding what should be disclosed.

35. The ACPO Guidance on Charging for Police Services has advised that from their analysis, the majority of these requests will take no more than 2 hours to complete and ACPO has set a fee of £75 for this service. Any request that takes longer than 2 hours to undertake will incur a cost at £25 per hour for each hour above the initial 2 hours.

36. The charges outlined in the ACPO Guidance makes specific reference to the disclosure of information in respect of notifiable occupations. However, the charges are also applicable within the context of requests for information in respect of family proceedings.

Charges that are set by statute or legislation

37. MPS Finance Services have undertaken research and established that the various fees/charges set by legislation are still current.

Partnership & Other Cost Sharing Arrangements

38. The special arrangements regarding cost sharing in respect of partnerships on a case by case basis with local authorities, as allowed by Section 92 of the Police Act 1996 (Grants by Local Authorities), is not applicable to this specific paper, which is produced in order to achieve full cost recovery.

Value added tax

39. The items listed under the schedule of fees and charges are shown net of VAT unless indicated otherwise. VAT will be accounted for at the appropriate rate according to the tax point date.

Next Steps

40. Once approved by the MPA Finance and Resource Committee, Finance Services will ensure the schedule of fees and charges is promulgated throughout the MPS using a range of media. An electronic version will be published via the MPS Intranet and on the MPS Website / Publication Scheme.

41. A change to the current process whereby an A3 size laminated copy of the fees and charges is displayed at every MPS front counter is proposed. In the interest of cost savings and environmental considerations, it is proposed that advice is provided at MPS front counters regarding access to the MPS website. This will also afford the opportunity to make any mid-year amendments to the fees and charges due to changes in legislation at zero cost to the MPS.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. There are no implications, which impact upon equality or diversity.

Consideration of MET Forward

2. Publication of the rates will ensure a consistent approach is in place when third parties request special policing services from the MPS. This will ensure the MPA policy for full cost recovery is achieved.

Financial Implications

3. The estimated 2011 - 12 income generated from the fees and charges are fully reflected in Table 5, as advised by budget holders.

Table 5 – Estimated income from Fees and Charges 2011 - 12

It should be noted that the income generated from the fees and charges may be higher or lower than the above estimates due to demand fluctuations.

Legal Implications

4. Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) has reviewed the contents of this report. They have stated that the statutory powers to charge are correctly set out at paragraph B1 of this report.

5. DLS state that when providing a service under Section 25 of the Police Act 1996 (Special Police Services), it is advisable to enter into a Special Services Agreement with the fees appended to the Agreement prior to the provision of services in order to avoid dispute. This is normal practice in the MPS.

6. There are no known legal implications arising from the calculation of the fees and charges set out in this report.

Environmental Implications

7. There are no environmental implications:

Risk Implications

8. The only element of risk is related to the estimated amount of income that will be received by the MPS as levels can vary considerably and are difficult to predict. Risk management is integrated into the Service’s budget, business planning and performance management processes. Business Groups and Management Board monitor risks on a regular basis.

D. Background papers

• Report number 8 of the 18 March 2010 meeting of the MPA Finance and Resources Committee (Annual review of the schedule of fees and charges).

E. Contact details

Report authors: Karim Mahamdallie, Director of Business Support, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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