Special Police Services Agreement with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Tottenham) has requested special police services (SPS) relating to the installation and ongoing support of an in-building communication system and control room equipment by the MPS in the stadium. The installation is necessary in order to meet the obligations of the safety certificate that Tottenham is required to obtain to allow the stadium to operate. The equipment remains the property of MOPAC.

The installation and ongoing support will include the Airwave radio system at a cost of £283,500 and control room equipment at £221,629. The Airwave radio system and control room equipment for the stadium have been purchased through the existing contracts and the individual spend falls within the delegated authority. Tottenham have agreed to pay for the costs of the system including upgrades as the system requires. This provides for the decommissioning of the system at the time of the transition onto the Home Office Emergency Services Network system, the Airwave replacement.

The DMPC is asked to;

• Note the spend of £375,235 of capital and revenue expenditure in 2018/19 and £64,947 in 2019/20 and 2020/21 of revenue expenditure relating to the design, supply, installation and support and maintenance (including upgrades) of an MPS in building communication system at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club which is within contractual and financial delegations.
• Note that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are responsible for the costs of decommissioning of the system at the time of the transition onto the Home Office Emergency Services Network, the Airwave replacement.
• Agree income of £375,235 in 2018/19 and £64,947 in 2019/20 and 2020/21 from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club with regard to the capital and revenue costs relating to an MPS in building communication in the stadium.
• Approve the Special Police Services Agreement with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for the installation and ongoing support of an in-building police communication system and control room equipment in the stadium.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (Tottenham) has requested special police services (SPS) under Section 25 of the Police Act 1996 for the provision of an in-building police communication system and control room equipment in their new stadium.

1.2. Tottenham has requested the installation of Airwave and police equipment in the control room in order to meet the requirements of the safety certificate at the stadium, where the presence of police may be required to maintain public order and prevent the commission of offences. The capital cost for the provision of Airwave is £183,000 with a further £33,500 revenue costs per annum for three years toward the ongoing cost of maintaining Airwave; a total of £283,500. The capital cost for the provision of police equipment in the control room is £127,288 with a further £31,447 revenue costs per annum for three years for maintaining this equipment; a total of £221,629.

1.3. The SPS Agreement with Tottenham will require the club to pay in full for the installation and ongoing support of the police communication system that is a total of £505,129 for Airwave and police control room equipment.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. SPS is a discretionary service requested by an event organiser such as the owner of a football stadium and is outside of the MPS’ core policing requirements. There is no requirement for MPS deployment in the stadium under its core responsibilities but if SPS is requested, as in this case, it has been necessary to install a full in-building communication system to guarantee radio coverage and capacity for the MPS at the stadium.

2.2. Airwave is the National supplier of the Tetra radio communications system and as such are the only supplier of this equipment to the MPS. Frequentis, a contracted supplier of such equipment to the MPS, has supplied the control room equipment. The MPS are required to procure this equipment and ongoing support from these suppliers on the understanding that Tottenham will pay for the full cost of this provision.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The spend of £375,235 of capital and revenue expenditure in 2018/19 and £64,947 in 2019/20 and 2020/21 of revenue expenditure relating to the design, supply, installation and support and maintenance (including upgrades) of an MPS in building communication system at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

3.2. The SPS Agreement with Tottenham will require the club to pay in full for the installation and ongoing support of the police communication system that is a total of £505,129 for Airwave and police control room equipment.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. In relation to the provision of special police services, section 25(1) of the Police Act 1996 provides “[The Commissioner as] the chief officer of police may provide, at the request of any person, special police services at any premises or in any locality in the police area for which the force is maintained, subject to the payment to the local policing body of charges on such scales as may be determined by that body.

4.2. Section 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent requires the DMPC to approve the provision of policing service to external bodies where the contract value is £500,000 or above.

5. GDPR/Data Privacy

5.1. The SPS Agreement with Tottenham for installation of an in-building communication system has been reviewed by way of a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). The DPIA has determined that there are no privacy issues to be considered from the proposal.

6. Equality Comments

6.1. Equality and diversity implications have been considered and due to this system being already in use in the MPS it is fully compatible with any assistive technology. At this stage, no further impacts have been identified

7. Background/supporting papers

7.1. Report.