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Police bodies join forces to recover airport costs |
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Friday, 19 January 2007 |
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Police authorities and police forces from across the country are meeting next week to discuss how they can work together to recover more fully the costs of policing the UK's nine major airports.
Under the Civil Aviation Act 1982 nine designated airports are required to contribute to policing costs.
But police authorities and police forces have found it increasingly difficult to recover what they consider to be a fair proportion of the costs from airport operators. And the problem has worsened due to the increased cost of providing counter-terrorist cover.
In order to find a way forward, the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Metropolitan Police Service have organised a meeting of all the affected police authorities and forces to come up with a solution.
Len Duvall, Chair of the MPA, said:
"In London we are in negotiations with the British Airports Authority in order to increase the amount they pay towards policing costs, which are rising substantially every year. It is unfair to expect taxpayers to have to bear the costs for policing what are commercial enterprises, often earning huge profits.
"Police forces spend a substantial amount of their resources on keeping our major airports safe. A position made more vital due to the increased threat from terrorism. We need to work out an equitable agreement that enables us to maintain cover at our airports, keep all airport users safe, and ensure we do not have an excessive drain on our budgets to the detriment of our wider police services.
"Unfortunately, under current legislation, the amount the operators pay is open to local interpretation and confusion, and leads to disputes. The issues we are addressing here in the capital apply equally to the other designated airports, which is why we felt we should work together on developing police service agreements with the designated airport operators."
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