Declares that taxpayers should provide no funding for a private wedding, no matter who is getting married; further that the exact details of royal wedding funding are shrouded in secrecy; further that we do know that expensive road closures and policing will be required and further that we know local councils and the taxpayer ends up footing the bill.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to ensure the highest standards of openness and transparency relating to the funding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank wedding; further to tell the Government to commit no public funds to the wedding and to publish a report of all costs to taxpayers.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Emma Dent Coad, Official Report, 31 October 2018; Vol. 648, c. 4P .]
[P002283]
Observations from The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service (Mr Nick Hurd):
Police and Crime Commissioners can apply to Ministers to seek Police Special Grant funding for unexpected and exceptional events which have a major financial impact on their force.
The majority of the costs of the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank were met privately. Thames Valley Police undertook operations to ensure the safety and security of the public during this event. This was an operational decision for the police force.
Ministers have received a request for additional funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley through the Police Special Grant totalling just over £850,000. This application is being considered in line with standard Special Grant processes.
The Government are committed to openness and transparency. Special Grant claims information is published on an annual basis on www.gov.uk
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-funding-special-grant-applications). This includes the amount of funding applied for and granted. It is not common practice to publish a detailed breakdown of the costs as it could potentially harm the integrity of similar future police security operations around major events.