Policing and Crime Bill

My Lords, one of the objectives of the Bill is to introduce a level playing field for the payment of airport policing. Currently, nine United Kingdom airports—the larger ones—pay for airport policing twice, first through a direct contribution and then through business rates, while the smaller airports contribute through business rates and the provision of onsite facilities. The effect of the Bill is to put the smaller airports in the same position as the larger ones as regards payment for policing. At present, the smaller airports make no direct contribution to their local police force for policing at the airport in question, and the local police force bears the cost itself. During the passage of this Bill through the other place, assurances were given that the police would not be able to specify the levels of airport policing they considered appropriate without fully explaining and justifying to the airport authorities the costs involved. That assurance was certainly needed since the costs of airport policing are not insignificant. For example, at Manchester airport they run to some £9 million a year. Since policing costs are part and parcel of the costs of running an airport, it does not seem unreasonable that an airport authority should be able to recoup the costs of airport policing from airport users or that those other airport users should be required to make payments direct to the police. However, the wording of the Bill does not even give airports the backing to seek to pass on policing costs to airlines and others who benefit from the policing provision despite the Explanatory Notes to the Bill rather suggesting that airport security plans could provide for other stakeholders to make payments in respect of delivery by the police of a security measure. If there is no wording in the Bill to acknowledge that airports can seek to pass on such additional costs, many smaller airports will almost certainly struggle both to pay and to pass on the costs. This is the issue that my amendments seek to address. Figures with which I have been provided show that, based on policing costs of 80p per departing passenger, the impact on the airport’s bottom line at a time when the industry is already under pressure is likely to be 15 per cent, 72 per cent and 29 per cent of existing profit for 2007-08 for East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports respectively unless the policing charges they will now have to pay directly to their local police forces are passed on to airport users. The Government’s own impact assessment acknowledged that some airports could become loss-making as a result of the proposed change in arrangements for the payment for airport policing by the smaller airports. It would be helpful if my noble friend could confirm that the Government recognise the serious impact that the proposed changes to airport policing payments could have on the financial position of smaller, non-designated airports that currently do not make a direct payment to their local police force for airport policing. While there will be a dispute resolution mechanism that ultimately ends up with the Secretary of State, to which my noble friend has already referred, this may well not lead to satisfactory solutions since the policing of an airport will be based on decisions related to assessments of threats and the resources needed to deal with them, and be unrelated to the commercial viability of the airport, which is a key issue for the airport operator. That is why I do not share the Minister’s confidence in the dispute resolution procedure, which he expressed during our debate on the previous group of amendments. A further concern of airport operators is that the levels of policing at the smaller, currently non-designated airports, will subtly but steadily increase following the passage of the Bill and the transfer of policing costs from the local police to the airport operator. Such concerns from the point of view of the airport operators would be diminished if they had some backing in the wording of the Bill for seeking to pass on costs to users, and there is already a precedent for giving airports such powers in the European directive on passengers with reduced mobility, as additional costs can be passed on to the airlines. I have already referred to the concerns of airport operators that the levels of policing at the smaller, non-designated airports will steadily increase following the passage of the Bill, an issue raised a few minutes ago by my noble friend Lord Berkeley. Indeed, there are concerns that it is already happening. Since the beginning of the year, two officers have been positioned at one of the smaller airports affected by the Bill whereas previously the only presence was the Special Branch and an armed response vehicle during increased security threat levels. There is now involvement by the police in traffic management on the terminal frontage roadway, car park patrols and increased access airside to investigate alleged thefts from airport shops. It is clear that local police forces regard themselves as providing services around airports that meet more than the needs of the airport operator. Last July, a circular from Leicestershire constabulary invited people to meet the East Midlands airport neighbourhood team for a consultation event comprising three one-hour meetings at different locations in the airport. The meetings were open to everyone and were billed as a chance to tell your neighbourhood team about the issues that might be of concern and to have your say about policing in the area. A further letter from that police force referred to addressing matters of concern to all sections of our "community" and said that an issue the airport police intended to address was careless and inconsiderate driving and in that regard the need to ensure the safety of all who use the airport. That may all be fine, but it is not related to airport security in the accepted sense, and there must be a suspicion that a desire to expand the service by the police to include community policing may not be unrelated to the provisions of this Bill, which will result in the costs being borne by the airport operator rather than by, in this case, the Leicestershire force. There is a feeling, despite what the Minister has said, that if the police can pass on the costs to airport operators, they will simply gold-plate their provision. That appears to be starting to happen already and we ought to face up to the issue. The Special Branch, the UK Border Agency and customs are funded centrally, so to that extent airport operators are already paying for airport security. Some of the smaller airport operators are querying exactly why a permanent police presence is necessary since the Special Branch and the UK Border Agency are available, and the police could be called as and when necessary, as is the norm outside the airport. This is an important issue for smaller airports. Times are already difficult and additional costs for smaller airports will simply make it harder for them to compete with the larger ones. In reality, they cannot pass the costs on since airport operators have existing contracts in place with airport users that do not provide for such costs to be paid, because the airport operator currently does not have to pay the costs of policing directly. If there is to be a police presence at an airport from the local force—it is a monopoly supplier and the Government have again said no to tendering—then every other company on the airport site will benefit from the police presence, but the contracts with them cannot be renegotiated unless those other companies on the airport voluntarily agree to do so. My amendment would not compel other companies to renegotiate with airport operators, of course, but they would strengthen the stance of operators in seeking to get agreement on renegotiation if they wanted to go down that road, and also in seeking to recoup such costs when it comes to the renewal of the contracts or the negotiation of new contracts. I hope that my noble friend will feel able to accept my amendment. The changes this Bill makes to paying for airport policing have serious implications for the viability of our smaller, non-designated airports. There needs to be a clear acknowledgement in the wording of the Bill that these additional costs can be shared by all airport users and not be left to be borne by the airport operator. More than soothing words claiming that everything will be all right on the night are needed in response. I hope that the Minister can address the concerns I have raised in a meaningful way. I beg to move.