Stadium's refusal on police costs

Wales v England at the Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium said policing costs inside the arena were �8,000 for last Saturday's Wales v England rugby international

The Millennium Stadium's manager has criticised South Wales Police's chief constable for saying she will charge event promoters full policing costs.

Gerry Toms said the stadium will refuse to pay because it is only obliged to pay for policing inside the ground.

Chief constable Barbara Wilding said the practice of charging organisers was approved in England in 2005 and she was bringing the force into line.

She said it is facing a �9m funding gap this year and up to �14m next year.

The new charging policy will come into force in April 2009 and will mean special policing services required to stage major events such as football matches and concerts, will be met by the promoters organising the event.

Ms Wilding said the force would consider the abatement of charges for charity or smaller scale community events.

Games in Cardiff do generate a large amount of money for the Welsh economy and everybody gains, not just the WRU

Gerry Toms, Millennium Stadium

There was a delay in the policy being implemented in south Wales because of a pending court case which had now been resolved, she said.

The force said it receives no financial assistance from the assembly government in recognition of it serving a capital city, unlike in Scotland where the Lothian and Borders Police receives a grant from the Scottish government for policing Edinburgh.

But Ms Wilding said organisers of events will still have to pay irrespective of what happens with requests for extra capital city funding.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Ms Wilding said that the cost to the force of policing the derby match between Cardiff City and Swansea City was �250,000 and they only got back �25,000.

"That meant that �225,000 which could have gone towards solving burglaries, solving murders and making sure that people are safe isn't spent on that but on a football match," she said.

She also denied that the new policy would make it difficult for Cardiff and Swansea to attract big events because other forces in England had already implemented the charges.

But while she admitted the policy would have an economic backlash for the South Wales Police force area she claimed the policy had not come out of the blue for event promoters.

Mr Toms, former chief superintendent with South Wales Police, said the force only had the right to charge sports grounds for the police inside the stadium not outside.

He claimed Ms Wilding embarked on the same charging strategy in 2005. They refused to pay then and would continue to do so, he said.

We are already passing on the cost of the policing charges that we currently bear because those are part of the ticket prices

Peter Ridsdale, Cardiff City chairman

"We met with the chief constable then and we reminded her that what she can charge for is set out clearly in government guidance and a Home Office circular," he said.

"The circular has not changed. It still clearly makes it evident that it can charge only for policing inside the ground and not outside the ground.

"There is a difficulty with South Wales Police, the Home Office and the Welsh Assembly Government about their basic funding.

"She has rightly made the point that in England and Scotland they do get extra money for events. That comes from the government purse.

"What we would say as a business organisation, we pay our commercial rates, almost �1m, and we pay for all the policing inside.

'Doubly taxed'

"Games in Cardiff do generate a large amount of money for the Welsh economy and everybody gains, not just the WRU (Welsh Rugby Union)."

He added that the rugby match between Wales and England cost the Welsh Rugby Union, which owns the stadium, �8,000 in police costs.

Peter Ridsdale, Cardiff City's chairman, said charging the club for full police costs would effectively mean both the business and the fans were being "doubly taxed".

"We are already passing on the cost of the policing charges that we currently bear because those are part of the ticket prices," he said.

The Home Office has been contacted for clarification on its guidelines regarding police charges.

The South Wales Police Authority was unable to reach a decision on Tuesday about the precept funding, raised from the council tax, for 2009/10.

'Capping powers'

Ms Wilding said with precept funding the force was facing a "worst case scenario" of a �14m funding deficit.

On Tuesday the assembly government said: "The minister will monitor carefully budget setting in the coming weeks and does not expect authorities to seek unreasonable council tax increases from the already hard pressed householder.

"The minister will consider using the capping powers available to him in the event of excessive budget increases."

A Home Office spokesperson said UK government grant for the police will have increased by 16% in real terms between 1997/98 and 2010/11.

He said South Wales Police Authority received a 2.2% share of the common funding formula for forces in England and Wales, which included additional funding for special events.

"This is based on projections of the number of people who travel into the authority area," he said.