Plea for millions to meet cost of disaster inquiry

South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright is applying for the money to stop the legal, insurance and compensation costs arising from the linked Hillsborough inquiries from draining his force’s shrinking resources.

Fresh inquests are due to start at the end of March into the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters at Sheffield Wednesday’s home ground, more than a year after the original verdicts of accidental death were quashed by the High Court.

At the same time the Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the alleged cover-up in the aftermath of the tragedy and former Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart is carrying out a criminal probe into the deaths.

Mr Wright, who is responsible for South Yorkshire Police’s budget, has applied to the Home Office for Special Grant funding to help meet the costs resulting from the inquiries, which he expects to run into millions of pounds.

He said: “Because of the timescales and complexity of the various inquiries currently underway on Hillsborough and the new inquests due to start before the end of March, it is not possible to put an exact and final figure on the costs that will fall on the South Yorkshire force and my office.

“However, what can be said with certainty is that they will be significant. I hope the Government will look on this request favourably.

“I will always be steadfast in my commitment to the aim of finally resolving outstanding concerns about Hillsborough. However, at the same time I have a responsibility to ensure that the financial implications should not put at risk the plans I have drawn up for dealing with the present day safety needs of the people and communities of South Yorkshire.”

South Yorkshire Police bosses have hired two leading London lawyers, Fiona Barton QC and Matthew Holdcroft, to represent them during the new inquests in Warrington, which are expected to last for several months.

Though the Government is already meeting a large proportion of the costs of the three inquiries, it is feared the potential cost of compensation and legal payments to South Yorkshire Police could reduce the funds available for day-to-day policing services.

The force is one of the most reliant in the country on central government funding, which is being cut by nearly £10m in the next financial year in the latest reduction to hit the force.

Some 300 officers will leave the force in the next two years and only 100 will be replaced as part of plans to bolster South Yorkshire’s public protection units, dealing with offences such as sex abuse, domestic violence and trafficking.

Last summer bosses were criticised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for failing to identify enough savings and for missing the opportunity for a long-term restructure of the force.

When HMIC returned in December it praised the work that had been done to reduce crime while closing the savings gap, but said the force needed to keep an eye on the impact of “cost pressures” in the medium term.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We can confirm that we have received a request from South Yorkshire Police for special grant funding in relation to the costs of the new Hillsborough inquests. The application is currently being considered and a decision will be made in due course.”

Special grants are considered when additional costs exceed a minimum of one per cent of a force’s annual budget.