Event promoters must pay policing costs says South Wales Chief

Chief Constable of South Wales, Barbara Wilding, has said she will charge event promoters using the Millennium Stadium full policing costs as the force is facing a significant funding shortfall.

The new charging policy is expected to come into force in April this year and will mean all special policing services required to stage major events such as football matches or music concerts will have to be funded by the promoters organising the event.

Manager of the Millennium Stadium, Gerry Toms, has said the venue will refuse to pay the extra policing costs as it did when Ms Wilding initially embarked on the charging strategy in 2005. Its implementation has been delayed due to a pending court case which has now been resolved.

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

“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 told BBC News.

“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 £1 million, and we pay for all the policing inside.”

Ms Wilding has said she is currently facing a £9 million funding gap this year which could increase to £14 million next year.

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

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 received £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.

The charges may be wavered in the case of charity or small scale community events, Ms Wilding added.