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£250m purchase of the building in central London, and
significant upgrade of the site to create new hub
The Mayor of London, , and the Metropolitan Police
Service have today (Monday 26 March) announced a £412m
investment to create a new counter-terrorism and organised crime
hub in the capital.
The major new investment includes the £250m purchase of the
Empress State Building in Hammersmith and Fulham, and a
significant upgrade project to make the building and
associated sites fully secure and fit for purpose.
For the first time, it will bring together the Met’s
counter-terrorism command and specialist crime and operations
under one roof, in line with other cities like Manchester and
Birmingham.
The move to focus on a single site, and dispose of other
buildings, will also save on rent, freeing up more money to
support front line policing.
London’s new counter-terrorism hub will streamline operations and
capabilities, and ensure more effective and efficient working to
keep the capital as safe as possible from the constant and
evolving threat of terrorism.
The current threat from international terrorism remains at
severe, which means an attack is highly likely. The increase in
terrorist activity has been described by police and security
experts as a shift not a spike and the horrific events
that took place in London and Manchester last year, remind us
that attacks can happen at any time and without warning.
Until now, a significant proportion of the Empress State Building
has been leased by the Met Police and used for a range of
purposes including back office and operational functions. In
addition to the benefits for London’s counter-terrorism
provision, the purchase of the freehold offers better value for
money than the alternative options that include signing another
15 year lease.
The Mayor of London, , said: “Keeping Londoners safe
is my first priority, and that means ensuring the capital is as
protected as possible from the threat of terrorism and organised
crime.
“Last year, our city was subjected to four terrorist attacks at
Westminster Bridge, London Bridge, Finsbury Park and Parsons
Green. We know that countless more have been thwarted by our
hardworking and dedicated counter terrorism officers, whose
heroism in these times of adversity we must never take for
granted. At a time when policing budgets continue to be cut by
Government, it is right that we prioritise investment in those
areas that matter most.
“The fact is, terrorism and serious organised crime continues to
pose a real and ever present threat in our city, and it is
imperative that we give our police officers the tools they need
to help keep us safe. This new counter-terror and organised crime
hub for the capital will ensure that London is brought into line
with rest of country whilst being best value for money.
“It will bring our expertise and capabilities together in one
place, so they can work more efficiently and effectively to
ensure our city is as protected as possible.”
The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Cressida
Dick, said: “Last year’s attacks were absolutely appalling. As we
continue to try to do everything we can to prevent such events we
must take every opportunity to develop our services in a cost
effective manner. The new hub will allow us to continue to
improve our abilities to confront the significant and ever
changing terrorist threat as well as to deal even more
effectively with organised crime, cyber crime and other serious
crimes. This development will undoubtedly support our hard
pressed officers and staff and will ultimately help make London
safer.”
Following his recent review of London’s preparedness to respond
to a terrorist attack, in which counter-terrorism expert Lord
Toby Harris highlighted the need to improve working across
agencies and bring London’s capability into line with the
facilities in other parts of the country like Manchester and
Birmingham Lord Harris has reviewed this programme and fully
supports its recommendations.
Lord Toby Harris said: “A few weeks ago I spent some time
visiting the existing arrangements for coordinating
counterterrorism and organised crime work in London. These are
spread out over several sites and it is not possible for all the
services to work together as effectively as they would in the
proposed new combined hub. I also reviewed the detail of the
business case and I was convinced that what is proposed makes
sense, represents value for money and will make a major
contribution to keeping Londoners safe.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) has agreed
the price of £250m to purchase Empress Holdings Ltd (and its
subsidiaries), the ultimate owner of Empress State Building, from
EC Group Holdings Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Capital &
Counties Properties PLC - Capco). MOPAC would pay an additional
£10m if certain conditions for security are met.
- Capital & Counties Properties PLC (“Capco”) today
exchanged and completed on the sale of the Empress State Building
(“ESB”) for total cash consideration of £250 million. Until now
the Met police had leased a significant proportion of the
building.
- The new hub will be serving London very soon. However, for
operational security reasons, we are unable to say when the works
will be fully complete.
