b'In March 2006, the case of Reading Festival Limited v West Yorkshire Police Authority [2006] All ER (D) 40 (May) was heard by the Court of Appeal following a dispute which arose between the Reading Festival organisers and the police over the cost of policing the event. The court decided that the festival organisers were not liable for the policing costs since they had not specifically requested them and the policing was in local communities. This case was followed by Chief Constable of Greater Manchester v Wigan Athletic AFC Ltd [2008] EWCA Civ 1449 and both these judgments have impacted on the approach the police take to charging for special police services, and, in particular, have led to joint guidance being developed by the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities in July 2010.In short, these judgments clarified that a police authority could not charge for special police services in the absence of an agreement between the event organiser and the police for the need for such services. Both cases severely limited the circumstances in which such a request would be implied. The ACPO/APA guidance encourages police authorities to be very precise about the size and scale of the services to be provided and to set this out clearly for the organisers in an agreement and statement of intent when planning such events. The ACPO/APA guidance is essential reading for anyone involved in this sector and can be found at the following web link: www.acpo.police.uk/documents/2010/201006FRPTBO1.pdf. The guidance also contains summaries of the above cases for those interested. In 2013, the case of Leeds United Football Club Ltd v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire [2013] EWCA Civ 115 built on these judgments on the grounds that, away from land owned by the club, the police could not expect Leeds United to cover costs associated with the polices duty to maintain law and order in public places.The police have various functions under the Firearms Act 1968 in relation to the granting of certificates or licences for firearms. Section 32 of the Act prescribes what can be charged for the grant of a firearm, renewal of a firearm certificate, variation of a firearm certificate, replacement of a firearm certificate, grant of a shotgun certificate, etc. The section also sets out when charges cannot be imposed. Similarly, section 35 of the Firearms Act 1968 prescribes the fees for registration and renewal of persons as firearms dealers by the Chief Officer of Police. Section 43 of the Act also enables the Secretary of State to alter the fees by an order to vary any of the sums specified in the Act. Under section 43, the relevant statutory instruments are: the Firearms (Variation and Fees) Order 1994 (SI 1994/2615); and the Firearms (Variation and Fees) Order 2000 (SI 2000/3148). See also section 19 and para 3 of the Schedule to the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 which prescribes a set fee for museum firearm licences. Section 5 of the Pedlars Act 1871 and the Pedlars Certificates (Variation of Fee) Order 1985 (SI 1985/2027) gives the police power to charge prescribed fees for these authorisations.115'