Policing bill for July summit 'may top £50 million'

THE bill for policing the G8 summit at Gleneagles Hotel in July will be at least £50 million, it was claimed yesterday.

Executive sources said current estimates put the police costs at about 50 million but they stressed this was a provisional figure which could easily rise if the perceived threat to the summit escalated nearer the time.

The Treasury has agreed to provide 20 million of the total, leaving the Executive to pick up the rest.

However, the Executive last week estimated the potential benefit to the economy of hosting the event at 1 billion.

Scottish ministers are expected to find the money for policing the G8 from reserves or from funds given to the Executive by the Treasury in the last 18 months which have still not been allocated to individual departments.

The 50 million does not include the clean-up and preparation costs which will be incurred by councils nor the costs of military personnel, which will be covered by the UK government.

Jack McConnell assured MSPs yesterday that, while the Executive would not write a "blank cheque" for councils which incur costs as a result of the summit, he would make sure that the Executive compensated local authorities after the event.

But the First Minister condemned the SNP for quibbling about who was going to pick up the bill for the policing costs, arguing that the Nationalists should look at the bigger picture and appreciate the benefits that will come to Scotland as a result of the summit - rather than simply fretting about the potential for "the odd penny to go awry".

The issue was raised in the chamber by Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP deputy leader, who asked whether speculation of a 100 million policing bill was accurate.

Mr McConnell said speculation was "inaccurate" and added: "That cost is not true, and unless circumstances change in an exceptional manner over the course of the next few weeks, the cost of the G8 summit to Scotland will be nowhere near 100 million."

He accused the SNP of being "introverted, insular and inward-looking" for arguing over who was going to pay the bill for police, rather than appreciating the significance of having such a massive event in Scotland.

Meanwhile, a tiny village close to Gleaneagles has won its battle to stop the construction of a camp for thousands of protesters.

The 200-strong population of Ashfield by Dunblane feared that more than 5,000 protesters were going to camp on farmland just yards from their homes.

However, the plans have been stopped after pressure on a landowner not to lease his land to the protesters.