Swimmer Sebastian Taylor says there are plenty of ways to cut Heath expenses, while actor Roger Lloyd Pack (below) foresees people taking the law into their own hands

WE are all well aware of the City of London Corporation (CoL) plans to reduce its £5.6 million costs of running Hampstead Heath, possibly through closure of one or all three swimming ponds.
So it may come as a surprise to Hampstead Heath users – it certainly came as a shock to me – to learn that not all areas of expenditure have been included in the cost-cutting proposals.
Potential options for meeting an expected £330,000 overspend next year have been made for front line public services and the ponds.
But excluded from the cost-cutting review are the costs of management, administration and support services and the costs of the Hampstead Heath Constabulary.
Effectively, these have been ‘ring-fenced’ and set apart from the ‘value for money’ review.
The funds involved are substantial.
Last year, these ring-fenced costs amounted to £1.25 million, or more than 20 per cent of the CoL’s total budget for the Heath.
Inevitably, the exclusion of these activities from the cost-cutting review must be a matter of real concern at a time when highly valued services are under threat.
It suggests the CoL is afraid of public scrutiny of management operations and the Heath Constabulary.
Two weeks ago in her Forum contribution, Catherine McGuinness, chairwoman of the CoL Hampstead Heath Management Committee, condemned the ponds as not providing value for money and being a drain on resources.
So let’s see how the ‘ring-fenced’ activities stand up to the McGuinness test.
First is the issue of management.
Expenditure incurred on ‘ring-fenced’ activities in the year to March 31, 2004, are detailed in the report by Jennifer Adams, the CoL director of open spaces, presented to the Hampstead Heath Management Committee.
Overall, management costs amounted to almost £750,000. This was split between £302,000 spent on the senior management function employing six people and £446,000 spent on administration and support services employing eight staff.
Management activities are mainly concerned with looking after and providing support for 127 permanent employees and seasonal temps at operational depots on the Heath, Highgate Woods and Queen’s Park.
Management functions were the subject of an internal CoL best value exercise two years ago and this may be the reason for their exclusion from the cost-cutting review.
However, an in-house review of best use of resources is very different from an external review to look at possible cost savings. As presented, the £750,000 management costs appear to be good value.
Indeed, the costs might be too good to be true.
From the CoL report, you cannot tell whether all central support functions such as property costs, IT systems and expensive consultants are included.
If some of these costs are allocated to front line services, the low management costs might not appear to be such good value.
But even if management functions do pass the Ms McGuinness ‘value for money’ test, the Heath Management Committee should have insisted on an external review and findings made available for public scrutiny.
At a time when savings of less than £10,000 are being sought in front line public services, it beggars belief that not a single penny can be cut from management’s £750,000 annual budget.
Next is the issue of the police.
Exclusion of the Hampstead Heath Constabulary from the cost-cutting review raises just as interesting issues.
Last year, it cost £498,000 to run the safety/security function employing 11 constables and one sergeant.
The constabulary was established in 1994 and restructured in 2002.
Growth in costs in developing the service has been a major factor lifting total CoL expenditure to £5.6 million in recent years.
A dawn to dusk service, and sometimes later, is provided 365 days a year in three shifts of four staff, mainly in four-wheel drive vehicles.
Two constables are needed in each mobile crew: one to drive, the other to keep a look-out or keep in touch with management by radio.
A police superintendent on £40,000 annual pay is to be recruited at head office to relieve senior managers from taking calls and keep in touch with the mobile units.
This will add more than 10 per cent to senior management costs – so much for senior management contributing to the cost-reduction programme.
The primary purpose of the constabulary is to enforce the bylaws of Hampstead Heath, not to replace the Metropolitan Police, which remains responsible for law and order.
One measure of ‘value for money’ is therefore the constabulary’s success rate in bylaw enforcement.
This does not look to be high.
Last year, constables were responsible for initiating proceedings that led to four prosecutions; three for cycling on non-designated bike routes and one against a motorcyclist.
Set in the context of the Heath constabulary’s £500,000 budget, cost per prosecution equated to £125,000 each.
Prosecutions for leaving litter were notable by their absence.
Constables were involved in 1,361 incidents. On average, each constable is involved in an incident every three days or so.
So does the constabulary pass the Catherine McGuinness value for money test or is it a drain on CoL Corporation resources?
Although enforcement of bylaws leaves much to be desired, the presence of mobile police teams may well provide welcome re-assurance to members of the public and contribute to their enjoyment of the Heath. But this is not the issue.
Rather, a view has to be taken on whether retention of the constabulary is more important than maintenance of front-line public services, including the ponds.
Jennifer Adams goes as far to admit in her report that the constabulary “could be disbanded”.
But retention is preferred to disbandment on the view that the Metropolitan Police is not familiar with ‘quality of life’ issues.
This view has now been challenged by the decision to pass all policing of the Royal Parks over to the Met.
Annual savings of up to £500,000 – nearly £200,000 more than spending cuts demanded by the CoL – can be achieved by disbanding the constabulary.
Alternatively, if senior management is determined to retain their police force, annual savings of £250,000 could be achieved by halving staff numbers through abolition of mobile patrols.
Constables would go about their duties by foot or by bike.
The public understand the CoL’s options for cost reductions.
What Heath users do not understand is why these are being put forward as the only options while substantial ‘ring-fenced’ expenditure goes unexamined and unchallenged.
n Sebastian Taylor is a financial journalist and swims in the Hampstead Heath ponds regularly.