Andrew Dismore

Taxpayers handed over more than £5 million to police London’s football matches last season, new figures show. In response to a Mayor’s Question from Labour London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore AM, Mayor Sadiq Khan stated that the money spent last season was enough to fund an additional 93 officers on London’s streets. Mr Dismore urged the Home Secretary to push for a change in the law to ensure the Metropolitan Police can recoup the true cost of policing football matches.

In the 2015/16 season, £5,019,992 was the net cost of deploying officers to football club related operations in London. In 2012, the High Court ruled that clubs can only be charged for policing inside the stadiums or on their land. There is no legal right to recover costs to the Met for managing travelling supporters or policing incidents that occur outside the ground.

Andrew Dismore said the cost of policing football matches was placing a “big strain on Met resources”. Figures set out in response to a further question from Mr Dismore reveal than an average of 136 officers have been deployed to West Ham home games since the club moved to the new London Stadium. West Ham’s home game against London rivals Chelsea in October saw 484 officers deployed. Mr Dismore urged clubs to “dig deep” and repay all of their policing costs.

Labour London Assembly Member Andrew Dismore AM said:

“It is outrageous that clubs who can afford to pay their players thousands upon thousands of pounds a week expect the tax payer to pick up the bill for anything that happens outside their ground.

“This is placing a big strain on Met resources and it’s time for clubs to dig deep. They are depriving London of nearly 100 extra officers a year, and it’s quite clear the law needs to change. The Home Secretary Amber Rudd should urgently intervene to ensure that Londoners are not left footing the eye watering bill for these super rich clubs.”

ENDS

 

Notes

• £5,019,992 was the net cost of deploying officers to football club related operations in London during the 2015/16 season. Mr Dismore’s Mayor’s Question and the response can be found below:

 

Policing football costs [5]

 

Question No: 2016/3912

Andrew Dismore

How many extra police constables could the Met afford if London professional football clubs contributed to the Met the full cost of policing their matches?

Written response from the Mayor

The cost of policing football in London varies each year.

 

Based on the 2015/16 season the net cost of officers deployed to football club related operations across London was £5,019,992.  Based on an average salary this would equate to circa 93 constables.

 

• An average of 136 officers have been deployed to police each West Ham home game during the current season. Mr Dismore’s Mayor’s Question and the response can be found below:

 

West Ham and security at the Olympic Stadium [3]

Question No: 2016/4403

Andrew Dismore

How many officers have been redeployed to police each of the West Ham home games at the Olympic Stadium this season?

Written response from the Mayor

The table below sets out the number of officers deployed to police each of West Ham home games at the Olympic Stadium this season

 

 

 

• 484 officers were deployed to police the West Ham game against Chelsea at the Olympic Stadium on 26^th October 2016.

 

• A report on the High Court ruling can be found here.

 

• Andrew Dismore is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.