Police have cancelled charges for their presence at the Sheffield Christmas light switch-on and Halloween celebration after a mixture of pressure from the public and lobbying from MPs
Labour MP for Sheffield South West, Clive Betts, who was part of a delegation meeting with police commander Chief Superintendent Simon Torr, said to us:
“It’s very clear that the police can’t charge for their presence and these events. A crowd of that size is an issue for for the police but they don’t charge.”
“The company responsible must make a request for special services and no such request was made”
South Yorkshire police were set to bill Yellow Bus Events nearly £8,000 for their Fright Night event and were planning to charge Sheffield Council £3,700 for the Christmas lights switch on this week.
Mr Betts, who met with Mr Torr and Brightside and Hillsborough MP David Blunkett and council leader Julie Dore to discuss the bill, said:
“A mixture of public support for the events and my own research into the law has led to the charges being dropped.
“Case law is very clear on this, the police can’t charge for an event in a public area with free and open access.”
“The recent Leeds United vs. West Yorkshire police court case has shown what the standard is.”
The court case Mr Betts mentioned erupted over a dispute about the cost of policing football matches in Leeds. The case went to the High Court where Mr Justice Eady held that policing on the public highway and on public land fell within “the normal constabulary duty to keep the peace”. Therefore, the costs of such policing were not recoverable from Leeds United. We were told by Mr Betts that previous cases like these were an influencing factor in the bills cancellation.
Mr Betts added: “Also, there were other people in the area not attending the events, and the police have a duty to provide a service for them too.”
When the charge was first issued Yellow Bus Events managing director, Scott Barton, said:
“Family events are run on a tight budget, and extra policing charges could end up strangulating them".
“Events like Fright Night and the Christmas lights switch-on provide positive activities for children and young people, and reduce anti-social behaviour - saving the police money".
“Police actively encourage people to attend.”
Everyone we spoke to agreed that it would be a shame to not encourage more events like this, including the police. A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: “Police and Sheffield Council have always worked well together and this continues to be the case. We have a duty to ensure public funds are correctly used to support events but also to ensure that the policing of local communities does not suffer any detriment.
“South Yorkshire Police has been in recent discussions with Sheffield Council and event organisers about the policing of events, this is currently under review as we work with our partners to identify the best way forward.”
If you missed the Christmas light switch-on and it’s huge list of activities and events, check out our audio/video slideshow from the event, showing the Sheffield community coming together to celebrate the festive season.
by Matthew Gee
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