New Bills from the Old Bill

Charities, sports clubs and community event organisers are now receiving huge bills from the Police.

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This follows new 'guidance' on charging to the nations 43 Police services from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

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The Acpo guidelines were introduced last April with the aim that all forces (sorry it is services now) charge in order to recover the cost of policing private events. Commercial events such as pop concerts have to pay the full cost of policing, quite correctly so. 'Statutory events such as war commemorations will not be charged - well one should think not they are hardly 'private functions'. Charity events will however be charged 50 per cent of the policing cost.

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In South Wales the old bill charged the Royal National Life Boat Institute £4,000 to send along officers to the annual Mumbles boat race fundraising event on 21 August. Despite 21 years of running the event with no problems what so ever the organisers were told that if the did not have Police Officers attending they would not pass the 'risk assessment' and would in consequence have to cancel the event !

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Across the land sports clubs both large and small are facing huge hikes in the cost for policing events.

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A quirk in the rules means that organisers of events such as the Defence Systems Equipment international arms fair (DSEi) which is to be held in London's Docklands at the end of this month, will only receive a small bill since the event is indoors, in an exhibition hall and the protests against it will be on the Queens highway outside. According to the Met, the cost of deploying 1,600 old bills (sorry highly trained and not routinely armed officers) will be more than a 'kool' £4 million.

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It is a funny old world, indeed.