Cost of policing the Queen’s funeral in the run-up to, during and immediately after in London in 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029756

I note you seek access to the following information:

I am writing to submit a request for information on the cost of the policing operation in the run-up to, during and immediately after the Queen’s funeral in London last year.

1) What was the estimated cost of the operation?
2) Of the total cost, what was the overtime cost?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31(1)(a) – Law enforcement

Reason for decision

Section 31of the Act is applied to information that, if disclosed would, or would be likely to, cause significant harm to the functions of a public authority namely, the MPS).

This is in relation to the cost of the policing operation in relation to HM The Queen’s funeral in London in 2022. The information held includes ‘Specialist Protection’ costs and the above exemption applies to this area. To release this data would reveal tactical capability which the MPS believes is likely to cause harm as indicated above.

The above Exemption has been utilised because the MPS believes that disclosure of the details requested would allow those with criminal intent to build up a mosaic picture of force capabilities and resources and use this information to undermine law enforcement.

Section 31(1)(a) – Law Enforcement - As articulated above, release of data on Specialist Protection costs could be of value to those with criminal or malicious intent. The data would reveal tactical capability allowing those with intent to build up a mosaic picture of force capabilities in similar future operations, which would undermine law enforcement.

Disclosure could provide and enable targeted malicious actions, be that some form of attack on an operational unit, or avoiding that unit for example, where strengths and weaknesses may be perceived (whether incorrectly or not) and this would compromise law enforcement tactics. It would place the communities at increased unnecessary risk of harm and impacts on police resources if additional resources and tactics need to be put in place to counter any harm caused by an adverse FOIA disclosure.

A Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under the Act, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world, not just to an individual. Whilst not questioning the motives of any applicant, any information disclosed in relation to this request could be of use to those who seek to cause harm to members of the MPS and the public.

The MPS takes its responsibility to protect the safety of individuals seriously and to not provide the details sought in this request in relation to Specialist Protection costs would suggest this. To provide information on the MPS’ capabilities in a specialist area would compromise the effective delivery of operational law enforcement, which cannot be in the public interest.

The MPS is charged with enforcing the law, preventing and detecting crime and protecting the communities which we serve and as much as there is public interest in the transparency of policing functions, there is also a strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of the MPS and its policing tactics and capabilities.

The public interest is defined not as what the public might find interesting but there must be some tangible benefit to the public in the disclosure of the information. In this case, providing the details requested could necessitate a review and changes to manpower, strategies and plans, which would be a burden and extra cost to the public purse.

The MPS considers that the benefit that would result from the information being disclosed does not outweigh the harm arising from disclosing the information requested.

Disclosure

Please see the operational cost below, which includes ‘Overtime’ as requested. As explained above, ‘Specialist Protection’ costs have been excluded from disclosure.

Operation London Bridge Costing (not including Specialist Protection Costs)
*Opportunity Costs	£28,445,875
Overtime	£23,801,273
Fleet	£1,474,181
Catering/Hotel	£14,984,801
Mutual Aid	£12,009,818
Expenses	£590,544
Army	£683,863
Infrastructure & Equipment	£2,162,250
Total	£84,152,605

*Opportunity costs are cost attributed to using officers from their home BCU/OCU’s for the event days.