Cost implications of policing public order events 2002

Report: 4
Date: 7 Mar 03
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out the comparison of costs of public order events in 2002 and 2001. The 2002 costs were considered and noted by the Finance Committee at its last meeting. Members had previously requested a report to the Co-ordination & Policing Committee comparing the demands of public order policing in 2002 to 2001.

A. Recommendation

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

It has been agreed that the MPS would report annually to the Authority on costs associated with public order events requiring more than 500 officers. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the cost of policing events during 2002. The largest events during 2002 included:

• Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations
• Queen Mother’s funeral arrangements
• May Day 2002
• Notting Hill Carnival 2002
• Countryside Alliance march
• Muslim Association of Great Britain march
• New Year’s Eve 2002

2. The events can fall into the following categories:

• Public order (marches, demonstrations, pickets)
• Ceremonial and military events
• Sporting events
• Religious events
• Community events

Costing of events

3. Attached at Appendix 1 is a breakdown of costs for public order events in 2002. This was presented to Members as part of the Budget Monitoring – Revenue report at the Finance Committee on 13 February 2003. Comparable costs for 2001 are at Appendix 2.

Opportunity costs

4. Members are asked to note that – with the exception of overtime and costs such as catering, transport etc. – a proportion of the costs quoted in the attached annex do not represent additional cash costs to the MPS. Rather, the officers and other staff assigned to a given operation would have been assigned to other policing duties or operations and therefore, at times, a significant element of the costs incurred in policing these events is regarded as ‘opportunity costs’. This will probably impact upon operational resources available elsewhere and thus the MPS’s achievements of its performance targets.

C. Equality and diversity implications

There are no specific equality or diversity implications arising from the costs of this report.

D. Financial implications

The MPS resources involved in the 17 public order/ceremonial events, recorded in the appendix of the Budget Monitoring Report – Revenue, presented at the MPA Finance Committee on 13 February, amount to the deployment of 50,410 police officers and 3,343 civil staff at a total cost of £20.1 million (excluding the cost of New Years Eve).

The MPS received additional funding from the Home Office toward the policing of the Queen Mother Funeral arrangements and the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. There was also a contribution from the Palace of Westminster. Acknowledging the impact of the funding from the Home Office and the contribution from the Palace of Westminster reduces the total cost to £16.4 million.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Chief Inspector Roger Gomm, Public Order Branch,MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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