By James Edes
Policing is mostly part of centrally and locally tax-funded services, as such, most policing is a public service.
However, some services the Police provide are beyond their ordinary public duty, and in some circumstances, the Police have powers to charge for services that are provided beyond their ordinary public duty under the provision of “Special Police Services”.
Legal basis of Special Police Services
Under Section 25(1) of the Police Act 1996, the Chief Officer of Police or a Police force may provide, at the request of any person, Special Police Services at any premises or in any locality in the police area for which the force is maintained, subject to the payment to the [local policing body] of charges on such scales as may be determined by [that body].
National Police Chiefs’ Council (“NPCC”) – National Policing Guidelines on Charging for Police Services
The NPCC document ‘The National Policing Guidelines on Charging for Police Services’, despite being guidelines only, are a key resource to understand the Police’s approach to Special Police Services.
Under paragraph 1.6, the guidelines define Special Police Services and highlight the conditions for charging for police services provided at events have been the subject of several legal cases, including Reading Festival Limited v West Yorkshire Police Authority (the ‘Mean Fiddler’ case), GMP v Wigan Athletic AFC and Ipswich Town FC v Suffolk Constabulary.
The guidelines indicate that Special Police Services are policing services which are carried out a) on request; and b) which are in addition to the regular duties of police forces.
The central principle is that the Police cannot charge for services which fall within their ordinary public duty i.e. those services the Police are duty bound to provide.
As outlined under paragraphs 2.5.12-2.5.13 of the guidelines, cases heard in 2006 in the Court of Appeal (Reading Festival Limited v West Yorkshire Police Authority), 2007/08 (GMP v Wigan AFC) and 2017 (Ipswich Town FC v Suffolk Constabulary) have impacted on the approach to be taken in providing Special Police Services.
The judgements clarified that a PCC cannot charge for Special Police Services in the absence of an agreement between the event organiser and the police of the need for such services. Special Police Services need to be specifically requested by an event organiser, promoter or individual.
Interesting takeaways from the Ipswich case (Ipswich Town Football Club Company Ltd v Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary [2017] EWCA Civ 1484
Paragraph 116 of the Judgment states that “for the purposes of section 25 the services provided by the police can be divided into operational (for which no charge may be levied) and SPS (for which a charge may be levied). There are no hard and fast rules governing whether a policing service is operational or an SPS. The issue is fact and context specific.”
At paragraph 122 of the Judgment, there is mention of police escorting services, but I must stress the broader point made is in respect of preventative policing. Please see the extract below (my underlining for emphasis).
[
122. Preventative policing on public land or on the public highway: Preventative policing on public land or on the public highway will, prima facie, be part of the operational duty. But, it is still capable [my underlining for emphasis] of being an SPS in appropriate circumstances [my underlining for emphasis] (such as the provision of a Police escort service on the public highway).]
I read the above paragraph as confirming the default position remains that preventative policing on public highway is prima facie, an operational duty.
Police escorting of abnormal loads
The example of police escorting services is merely an example of when preventative policing on a public highway can be capable of being an SPS in appropriate circumstances (i.e. police escorting services depending on the circumstances can amount to SPS but is not always SPS).
In practical terms, if the Police decide that a vehicle movement requires a police escort for safety purposes, then my understanding is this is an operational matter, and as such, no charge should be levied (this is also assuming no request has been made for police escorting services).
On the other hand, where an operator has requested the provision for police escorting services, which is accepted by the Police and an agreement is formed, then this is capable of amounting to an SPS, and as such, a charge is likely to apply, in line with the agreement between the operator and the Police.
What if I have been wrongly charged for SPS?
If you feel you have been wrongly charged for police services, contact us on 01829 773 100, one of our solicitors will be available to assist you.