Annual review of the schedule of fees and charges

Report: 05
Date: 18 January 2007
By: Acting Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out information on Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) fees and charges. It also provides details of charges for the special services of police. There is also an explanation in respect of the current status of charging for the detention of prisoners in MPS cell accommodation.

A. Recommendations

That Members approve the attached schedule of fees and charges inclusive of charges for the special services of police.

B. Supporting information

1. There is a requirement, as stipulated within the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) Financial Regulations and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Financial Instructions, for the Commissioner to review scales of fees and charges at least annually. The charges are calculated on the basis of recovery of full costs except where regulations/legislation require otherwise or with the express approval of the MPA.

2. The Commissioner has delegated the responsibility for undertaking the annual review to the Director of Finance.

General fees and charges (background)

3. The 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.

MPS calculated fees/charges

4. The range of fees/charges under this category is:

• charges for the provision of copy documents, video tapes requested by solicitors, etc. required for civil proceedings;
• charges relating to the recovery of the cost of officers seconded to other organisations and the cost of paying non MPA personnel through MPS payroll services;
• charges for the special services of police; and
• charges for detaining prisoners in MPS cell accommodation.

Charges as advised by other agencies

5. These charges are:

• the cost of providing additional copies of audio taped interviews as advised by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO);
• charges for the taking of fingerprints for members of the public in relation to visa and passport applications as advised by ACPO; and
• the cost of the registration fee made by the MPS Security Systems Section for intruder alarm registration as advised by ACPO.

Charges that are set by statute or legislation

6. These charges include:

• The fee to be paid for the issue of a pedlars' certificate as stated within the Pedlars' Certificates (Variation of Fee) Order 1985;
• The fee to be paid in relation to the restoration of a stray dog as set out in the Environmental Protection (Stray Dogs) Regulations 1992;
• The fee to be paid by foreign nationals required to register with the police who will be issued with a registration certificate as set out in the Immigration (Registration with Police) (Amendment) Regulations 1995;
• The fee to be paid in relation to a search under the Data Protection Act 1998;
• The variety of fees charged for the grant of firearms/shotguns etc. as detailed within legislation such as the Firearms (Variation of Fees) Order of 1990 and 2000 and also within the Museum (Firearms Amendment Act 1988);
• The fees charged for removal and storage of vehicles removed under the powers granted to police by the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986;
• The variety of fees charged for the storage of explosives as set out in the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2006.

7. 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 2007 unless otherwise stated due to the impact of legislation.

8. The appendix illustrates where the MPS has adopted those fees and charges recommended in the ACPO Guidance on Charging for Police Services and those where MPS fees and charges will mark time to allow ACPO recommended charges to harmonise.

Review of charges for 2007/08

9. The schedule of fees and charges for 2007/08 have been reviewed against the background of work undertaken by the ACPO Finance and Resources Business Area to produce formal guidance on charging for police services in 2005. This guidance was produced with the aim of providing forces with sound and robust methodology for recovering costs and an approach to charging for their services that is both transparent and consistent.

10. A paper ‘ACPO Guidance on Charging for Police Services’ was presented to the Chief Constables’ Council on 14 April 2005 and endorsed by the same group on that date. On the 27 June 2005, the Guidance was promulgated to all Chief Officers of Police in England and Wales.

11. Revised ‘ACPO Guidance on Charging for Police Services’ has been produced and is currently with forces for consultation. It is expected that the Chief Constables’ Council will adopt the revised Guidance prior to the beginning of the financial year 2007/08.

ACPO recommendation for common fees and charges

12. The impact of the existing ACPO Guidance in respect of the MPS Schedule of Fees and Charges is that the ACPO Guidance includes the recommendation on the use of common fees and charges across police forces for the provision of copy documentation in road traffic accidents, undertaking searches for limited particulars (i.e. information relating to insurance, drivers in road traffic accidents) etc. The Guidance encouraged forces to harmonise their charging methodologies over the next three financial years with an expectation that by April 2008, forces would have common fees and charges.

13. ACPO’s reasoning for common charges across police forces was the inability of justifying to third parties widely varying costs for, say, the provision of Road Traffic Information.

Impact upon the MPS

14. The MPA Finance Committee of the 20 January 2005 accepted the recommendation from the MPS that where the current MPS fees and charges are lower than the ACPO recommended charges or where the MPS does not currently charge for the product, the ACPO charge would be introduced into the schedule of MPS fees and charges. ACPO have advised that their recommended charges should be reassessed every three years to review their continued relevance and their link to the cost base.

15. Additionally, the Committee accepted the premise that where the charge levied by the MPS is higher than that recommended by ACPO, the MPS charges would mark time until such time as the ACPO recommended charges harmonise. The proposed charges for 2007/08, presented in this report, adhere to this principle.

16. MPS Finance Services intend to undertake a full review during 2007/08 of the cost to the MPS of reproducing copy documentation with a view to identifying if the current MPS charges retain their currency. If the evidence indicates that the current MPS charges understate the true cost of reproducing this documentation, MPS Finance Services would commence dialogue with ACPO on our desire to increase charges to an appropriate level.

17. The schedule of common charges in the ACPO Guidance is not exhaustive and there are a number of charges listed previously in the MPS schedule, which do not feature in the ACPO schedule. This includes, for instance, the cost per page of photocopying medical reports and personnel records, this charge was not increased with effect from 1 April 2006, given that there was a substantial increase to the charge applied from 1 April 2004. The position has been reviewed for the annual review of fees and charges from the 1 April 2007 and it is still considered inappropriate to increase the charge at the current time as the current charge covers the cost of this reproduction.

ACPO recommended charges from 1 April 2007

18. Those MPS charges harmonised with ACPO rates, as detailed in Appendix 1, have been increased in line with draft ACPO recommended charges from 1 April 2007. When discussing the increases to the common charges with ACPO, they advised that there is a requirement to receive ACPO Chief Constable’s Council approval before forces can formally adopt them. The Council are due to consider them in February 2007 with an expectation that they will be ratified in good time for the new financial year.

19. The table on the following page highlights the specific charges being considered by the Chief Constables’ Council.

20. The charges for the special services of police and the detention of prisoners in MPS cell accommodation are explored more fully in the following sections.

Charges for special services for police

21. On many occasions, the MPS provide policing services within 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, which allows the costs of such special services to be recovered from the party receiving the services.

22. The MPS make charges for these special services, which are designed 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 vehicle costs.

23. The daily and hourly rates for police officers and police staff are calculated to ensure the cost recovery of direct pay costs and also incorporate a general administrative overhead recovery charge to recover non-pay and overhead costs.

Overtime premium included in charges for special services

22. An overtime premium has been included in the charges for special services as part of the charges for those police officer ranks that are allowed to incur paid overtime. This was included to reflect that on many occasions, the policing resource is in addition to the normal duty time resource required to police the community.

23. The aforementioned ACPO Guidance on charging for police services recommended that the overtime premium should be based on 50% of average basic salary. An additional premium would be added where the event organiser gave police less than five days notice of an event.

24. The overtime premium was first included as part of the charges for special services approved by MPA Finance Committee in January 2005. The Committee endorsed its introduction but wanted its impact upon event organisers mitigated. As such, the Committee endorsed the recommendation that the increases would be phased in over three years to avoid an unreasonable burden on event organisers.

25. In the proposed charges for special services in this report, the phasing in period has been concluded and the full impact of the overtime premium is included for the first time. The table below provides a comparison between current hourly charges for special services of police for Sergeants and Constables and proposed charges under specific circumstances.

26. Appendix 2 to this report details the full schedule of charges for the Special Services of Police to be introduced once approved by the MPA Finance Committee on the 18 January 2007.

27. It should be noted in the proposed charges for special services that the charges for a Sergeant are higher than the Inspecting ranks with the exception of chief inspector in Table 1 and Table 3 in Appendix 2. This is due to the phasing in period for the overtime premium having concluded and the full impact of the overtime premium being realised.

Charges for detention of prisoners in MPS cell accommodation

28. MPS Finance Services has been working closely with Emerald Directorate, Territorial Policing and Specialist Crime Directorate to ensure that cost recovery for the use of MPS cell accommodation by other agencies such as the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), the Prison Service (in respect of Prison lock outs including Operation Safeguard) and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) represents an accurate reflection of the costs incurred.

29. There are long standing arrangements in place to deal with the cost recovery in respect of the use by the Prison Service of MPS cell accommodation namely the ACPO Police/Prison Service Overnight Accommodation protocol (lock-outs ) and Home Office Circular 8/97 in connection with Operation Safeguard.

30. Specialist Crime Directorate, assisted by MPS Finance Services, is working with SOCA to develop a charging formula based on the principle of full cost recovery, in line with existing MPS agreements, for services supplied, including the use of cell accommodation. The development of cost recovery was fully explored in a report from the Commissioner to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee on the 5 September 2006 that outlined the role of SOCA and its partnership with the MPS.

31. In respect of the arrangements for charging the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for the use of cell accommodation, it was reported in the annual fees and charges report to Finance Committee on 15 December 2005, that ACPO had been working with Immigration Service to develop a national charging protocol for the use of police cells by IND.

32. In light of this the MPS had not increased current charges, effective from 1 April 2004 until such time as the national debate had been concluded. In August 2006, ACPO wrote to all forces advising them that the outcome of a series of discussions with IND on this issue was that a national charging protocol was not currently achievable. In light of this IND had commenced a programme of approaching forces to negotiate charges on a local basis.

33. MPS Finance Services, Emerald Directorate and Territorial Policing are in discussions with IND on this issue. At the current time the MPS are considering a proposal from the IND to replace the current unit cost per detainee cost recovery process with an annual lump sump payment process. The thrust of the MPS consideration of the IND proposals is to ensure that any agreement provides a fair and equitable solution.

34. It should be noted that IND have recently approached the MPS for the provision of detention facilities for Immigration Service detainees who fall within the short-term removals category and are being transferred from elsewhere in the detention estate. A Commander from Territorial Policing Headquarters will be leading those impending negotiations with IND. Part of the impending negotiations will involve the development of a corporate position in respect of financial arrangements with IND. This development was fully explored in a report from the Commissioner to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 7 December 2006.

Charges as advised by other agencies

35. ACPO has been approached to establish whether there has been any change to the cost of providing additional copies of audio taped interviews and for the cost of the fee for intruder alarm registration.

36. ACPO have advised that there is an intention to increase the cost of the fee for intruder alarm registration from £35 to £45 (inclusive of VAT) from 1 January 2007. The increase to the fee was agreed on the 25 October 2006 at the meeting of the ACPO Security Systems Group.

37. There is a proposal by ACPO to increase the cost of providing additional copies of audio taped interviews using a 3% inflation factor. (Please see table following paragraph 19).

Charges that are set by statute or legislation

38. Finance Services has approached the Home Office and other Government Departments to establish if the legislation, which sets fees as stated within paragraph 6, is still current. They have advised that the legislation, including Pedlars’ certificates, is current.

39. The Home Office’s (HO) Road Crime Section and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) were contacted in respect of the fees specified within paragraph 6 in respect of vehicle removals to ascertain whether or not the vehicle removals and storage rates have changed. The HO have advised that they have begun to review these, which they hope will identify the appropriate level of charges, the basis upon which they are set, their structure and the possibility of a wider range of charges. The Home Office intends to issue a consultation document by the end of this year and the aim is to have new charges in place by the end of 2007.

Next steps

40. Once approved by the MPA Finance 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, on the MPS Website on the Publication Scheme.

Abbreviations

ACPO

Association of Chief Police Officers

C/ARB

Collision/Accident Report Book

DVLA

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

EAB

Evidence and Actions Book

HO

Home Office

IND

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

SOCA

Serious and Organised Crime Agency

C. Race and equality impact

There are no issues, which impact upon equality or diversity.

D. Financial implications

The estimated income generated from the fees and charges are fully reflected in the appropriate aspects of the 2007/08 MPS/MPA budget submission. Unless otherwise stated, all fees and charges are exclusive of VAT.

E. Background papers

• Report number 6 of the 6 July 2006 meeting of the MPA Co-ordination and Policing Committee. (Home Office immigration detainees at MPS detention facilities).
• Report number 5 of the 1 September 2006 meeting of the MPA Co-ordination and Policing Committee. (Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and MPS).
• Report number 5 of the 9 November 2006 meeting of the MPA Planning, Performance and Review Committee. (Custody capacity Service Improvement Review – progress against the improvement plan).
• Report number 8 of the 7 December 2006 meeting of the MPA Co-ordination and Policing Committee. (Immigration detainees and custody issues)

F. Contact details

Report author: Simon Hart, Acting Director of Finance Services, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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