Direct Line:01785 232411
Fax:01785 232369
Our Ref FOI 4311
Your Ref:
Date: 12/12/2013
Dear Mike Barnes,
Re: Request for internal review of response to application for information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, original request first notified to Staffordshire Police on 2nd September 2013.
I refer to the above request which was expressed in the following terms
Please could you tell me how much it cost to police outside the ground of the football match between Port Vale and Wolverhampton Wanders on 31 August 2013.
Please include (and specify) those cost charged to the football club, those not and including any damage to police equipment or vehicles.
Could you also tell me how many police were involved.
Having carried out the internal review and taken into consideration your representations, following Freedom of Information guidelines on behalf of Staffordshire Police I would inform you as follows.
There is a legal framework that governs what costs police forces are able to recover where Special Police Services have been provided to an organisation, including a football club.
Specific case law relating to police charges for policing football matches allow for cost recovery only for those police officers and staff deployed directly within the stadium or footprint of the stadium.
On that basis the charge to Port Vale FC in respect of the Port Vale v Wolverhampton Wanderers football match was £20,509.50 ex VAT. This figure covers officers and staff salaries, employers national insurance and pension contributions plus other overheads.
The actual costs of policing any match are significantly higher than the allowable cost recovery since officers and staff need to be brought on duty for longer than they are actually deployed in policing the event and some of the officers are deployed in roles which place them outside of the stadium or stadium footprint.
The full cost of policing the match is estimated at £35,200. This figure represents salary, employers NI and employers pension only.
The number of officers and staff engaged in the policing operation was 126 (122 police officers and 4 police staff).
The cost of damage to police vehicles is estimated at £2,800.
If you are dissatisfied with this reply you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner whose staff can be contacted as below.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone – 01625 545 700
Yours sincerely,
Tracey Brindley
(Freedom of Information Local Decision Maker)