SCOTTISH Football clubs were forced to cough up an extra £300,000 for the cost of policing of last year. In figures released to The National under Freedom of Information legislation, the costs invoiced to clubs by Police Scotland in the 2016/17 tax year totalled £1,667,123, up from £1,362,945.
Clubs and organisations are only charged for policing within their stadiums. The force does not charge clubs for what happens outside, and for the policing of getting supporters safely to and from games.
The difference between the two years could be almost entirely explained by the difference between Celtic who paid an extra £144,545, and the £142,514 invoiced to the Scottish Professional Football League. Those charges relate to the Scottish League Cup and Challenge Cup finals.
Celtic’s Champions League qualification and the return of the Old Firm derby are also likely to be behind some of the increase. In the 2015/16 season Celtic and Rangers competed in different leagues and played no league games against each other, while in 2016/17 they both played in the same league and had four league games against each other.
The data released by the police is by tax year rather than by season, so the figures for 2015/16 will include games played after April 1 in the 2014/15 football season, such as the Scottish Cup final between Inverness and Falkirk.
It seems likely that cup final between two relatively small teams may not have cost a lot to police compared to the semi-final in the 2015/16 season which was played in the 2016/17 tax year between Celtic and Rangers – and the Scottish Cup is run by the Scottish Football Association rather than the league.
Games played at Hampden, such as cup semi-finals and finals, are underwritten by the league and the SFA rather than individual clubs.
Aberdeen, who saw their amount invoiced fall by around £20,000 over the year, said they had made a deliberate effort to use the police less.
Warren Hawke, the chief exec- utive of Greenock Morton, told The National their £30,000 reduction in charges for them was down to “hard work and investment by the board of directors.”
“The reduction in policing costs over the stated dates are a result of a number of internal factors: building a full stewarding plan, an investment in technology via our new comprehensive CCTV system; and the development of a robust and regularly-tested contingency plan,” Hawke said.
“As a result of this investment in our safety team and technology, Police Scotland are satisfied that spectator safety is not only a priority for the club but that we deliver in every aspect of matchday spectator safety management. Not only are the police satisfied but SPFL match delegates have also reported favourably in many of their reports.”
The SPFL did not respond to The National’s request for a comment but Police Scotland said: “The Scottish Police Authority authorises the Chief Constable to provide and charge for police services. It also sets and reviews the charge rates.
“Charge levels are assessed on a case by case basis which provides flexibility to distinguish between different types of events. “Commercial events, where the organiser, company or organisation may intend to make a profit, will be charged full cost recovery when police services are provided.
“Local policing commanders work very closely with football clubs to ensure that the officers deployed are proportionate to the football matches concerned. This is done in full consultation and agreement with the clubs themselves. Police Scotland will work with event organisers to identify opportunities to minimise costs through consideration of alternative solutions, such as private security firms, without compromising the safe and successful running of an event.”
Meanwhile, the force also revealed that total cost of policing at the Scotland v England World Cup Qualifier in June was £68,086. Armed officers were deployed around the national stadium after the terror attacks in Manchester and London.
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