Football clubs should pay towards the £70 million cost of policing their matches in the UK, the head of the Metropolitan Police has told the BBC.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, the country’s most senior police officer, asked why organisers of events that require policing to support their security do not pay for it, and said there should be “more of a polluter pays approach”.
Sir Mark’s comments came as he called for the creation of 12 to 15 bigger police forces as part of his plans for radical police reforms.
He told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme the current model of 43 forces across England and Wales needed to be reduced to cope with increased demand and overstretched funding.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a 2.3% annual funding increase for policing in England and Wales in last month’s Spending Review. Many forces have criticised the funds as falling “far short”.
Sir Mark said reforms would help police forces, including the Met, “make the best use of the money we’ve got”.
As part of funding concerns, the commissioner also cited the £70 million cost of policing football in the UK, most of which is spent on Premier League matches in England.
“Why isn’t the organiser paying for that, rather than local communities who lose their resources to go to football matches?” he said.
A move to make football clubs pay was previously suggested to the Times by the head of the UK’s football policing unit and later criticised by sports bodies who said it could threaten events and lead to increased ticket prices.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Mark suggested the number of police forces needed to be reduced by two-thirds and said bigger forces would be better able to utilise modern technology.
He added the 43-force model designed in the 1960s had not been “fit for purpose” for at least two decades and hindered “the effective confrontation of today’s threats”.
Speaking to the BBC, the commissioner referred to an “invisible spaghetti” behind police forces that was responsible for “sucking resources and costs”.
“Lots of the smaller forces can’t actually do all the services locally and they’re having to club together and run complicated collaborations,” he said, adding that with “bigger local forces and one national body” they could “cut away” with a lot of that cost and waste.
The commissioner was questioned by Kuenssberg on the likelihood of the reform going ahead, referencing similar Labour plans in 2006 which were dropped following significant opposition.
Sir Mark said reform was “essential”, adding that spending on policing and public safety has dropped substantially over the last decade or more.
“I don’t see that changing dramatically. We’ve got to make the best use of every pound the government can give to us,” he added.
Put to him that he had warned he would have to de-prioritise some crimes, and asked what the force will not investigate, Sir Mark said: “So I don’t want policing activity to fall off the list, and I know that the mayor and the home secretary have pushed hard for the most police funding that we can get.
“We are determined to improve day in and day out experiences of Londoners on the streets. We can only do that if we focus ruthlessly on police work.”
