Regional airports face policing cost bill
11.08.08
Liverpool Airport - and other regional airports - face a multi-million pound bill for its security costs, under government plans to ease the financial burden on local police forces, the Echo reports. Legislation being drawn up will transfer responsibility for ‘threat and risk analysis’ at regional airports and for paying the policing bill from the local police force to the airport owner, the newspaper reports
At present, only nine British airports are ‘designated’ to pay for their own policing, a list that includes the main London airports, Manchester, Birmingham and Prestwick. However, Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has decided such a split does not make sense because of the growth of other regional airports and is determined to ‘create a level playing field’. She believes that it is unfair that taxpayers are subsidising profit-making private enterprises as the local police force is meeting the bill at most UK airports.
A consultation paper notes that football clubs and shopping centres are already charged for policing, as are mainline rail stations. Under the proposals, to be enacted in a Transport Security Bill and to come into force in 2010, airport operators would pay to ‘protect the airport, the people who work there and passengers from the threat of crime and terrorist activity’.
Airports would also be required to ‘produce an Airport Security Plan that clarifies roles and responsibilities and ensures that actions are taken to mitigate threats where the risk is unacceptably high’. The document concludes: ‘The current police funding arrangements at those UK airports that are not designated are no longer fit for purpose.’
A formal consultation on airport policing has just been launched by Jim Fitzpatrick, the Aviation Minister. It is understood no decision has yet been taken by MPs, but legislation is expected to be forthcoming in the next session of Parliament. The consultation is expected to last 3 months with discussions on the legislation likely to begin in December.
If approved, the cost faced by UK airports is likely to run into millions, and is on the rise because of the heightened terror threat. Edinburgh Airport recently established a police unit, boasting 44 officers, at an annual cost of £2.5m. Security at London City Airport costs £7m a year.
Andy Gower, Liverpool Airport director, told the Echo: ‘We are committed to provide a safe and secure environment for our passengers. We invest £3.5m each year to provide aviation and car park security, employing in excess of 200 people.'
‘The levels of any future policing presence at UK Airports is a matter for the Police Authority who are consulting with us at present following the launch of the Government’s consultation on this issue by the Aviation Minister.’
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