A council involved in a controversial street tree-felling programme has become reliant on the police “to secure the performance of a commercial contract”, according to an independent report on the policing of protests surrounding the scheme.
The report questioned why the cost of policing the programme could not be passed on to Sheffield city council (SCC) and its contractor Amey – accusing the local authority of “washing its hands of the issue”.
The council, which paused the programme in April following a series of high-profile arrests involving middle aged women with recorders and plastic trumpets, said it welcomed the report and hoped to reach a compromise with protesters before work restarted.
The report was commissioned by South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, Alan Billings, to examine one criticism – “namely, the reliance of SCC on policing to secure the performance of a commercial contract” . Its author, Andrew Lockley, found the criticism to be “well founded”.
Referring to one protest observed by his panel, he said: “It will have appeared to those attending that SCC had simply washed its hands of the issue and left Amey to it.”
Among a series of recommendations, Lockley called for a review into why the law forbids the police from passing on its costs when operating on public land.
“It may be asked why the cost of policing the protests is not re-charged to SCC and Amey. The answer is that the law does not allow it,” he wrote, adding: “In an age in which private organisations carry out public functions for commercial gain, it is unclear in policy terms why the cost of policing, which facilitates the performance of a commercial contract, should come at nil cost to the contractor.”
The long-running Sheffield trees dispute surrounds a 25-year, £2.2bn private finance initiative agreement the council signed with Amey in 2012 for road maintenance, which includes responsibility for maintaining the city’s 36,000 street trees.
Around 6,000 trees have been felled so far and campaigners say the contract threatens a total of 17,500 – a figure disputed by the council.
The felling is currently paused after a series of incidents saw 25 protesters arrested between January and March.
The report documents how police activity increased in February following an incident in Meersbrook Park Road in January during which a security guard’s wrist was broken.
The policing of the tree-felling first hit the national headlines in November 2016 when residents of a suburban street were woken by officers at 5am and two pensioners were arrested in an operation described by former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg as being more like a well-planned anti-terror raid than a morning of tree maintenance.
The report, published on Thursday, called this “a poor judgment call” which the force has learned from.
Lewis Dagnall, the council’s new lead for environment, said: “As we’re currently reconsidering how to move forward with tree replacement work, we welcome today’s report as an opportunity to reflect and learn lessons from previous experience.
“It’s our sincere hope that achieving a compromise will mean further police involvement proves unnecessary when work recommences.”
