Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Deferred
Given the damage caused to community relations by the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv...
Conclusion
Given the damage caused to community relations by the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, it is surprising and disappointing that Assistant Chief Constable O’Hara was not more precise in his remarks about whether Jewish representatives had supported the ban. However, we note his personal apology to representatives of the local Jewish community and have no evidence to suggest that ACC O’Hara intended to mislead the Committee on this point. More concerning is the fact that the Safety Advisory Group was incorrectly briefed on several occasions that the Jewish community had been consulted; West Midlands Police clearly believed that consulting the Community Security Trust was equivalent to consulting the Jewish community and did not attach significant priority to engaging the local community directly. This falls some way short of the level and quality of community engagement that the Birmingham residents are entitled to expect from their police service. (Conclusion, Paragraph 21)
Government Response Summary
The government is considering a formal escalation mechanism for Safety Advisory Group recommendations but will wait for the UK Resilience Academy's review of Safety Advisory Group guidance and HMICFRS inspection before exploring the issue further.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Safety Advisory Groups are multi-agency forums that provide expert advice to local authorities and event organisers on public safety matters. Safety Advisory Groups are non-statutory bodies and do not take binding decisions; responsibility for licensing and enforcing safety at sports grounds rests with local authorities under the existing legislative framework. Within this context, Safety Advisory Groups play an important role in assessing risk and supporting the safe delivery of events. A review of Safety Advisory Group guidance is being undertaken by the Cabinet Office-owned UK Resilience Academy and will result in the publication of new guidance. This new guidance aims to provide consistent expectations for event organisers while supporting Safety Advisory Group members to offer clear, evidence-based, and operationally credible advisory guidance. Ensuring Safety Advisory Group members are equipped to challenge effectively is key, and that ability to challenge can be strengthened by enhancing guidance to Safety Advisory Groups on good practice. The new guidance considers where escalation routes may be required. At present, Safety Advisory Groups provide non-binding advice and there is no mechanism or expectation for formal escalation to central government, reflecting their locally-led role and the operational independence of policing and local authorities. The Government recognises the Committee’s concern that, in rare cases, Safety Advisory Group decisions may have wider community or political implications. Through the UK Resilience Academy review, consideration is being given to whether a clear and proportionate mechanism is needed for Government to engage with Safety Advisory Group recommendations in such circumstances. Establishing any escalation process would require agreement across government on key issues, including thresholds for escalation, decision- making responsibilities, and how any intervention would operate in practice. These considerations are closely linked to the question of whether, and how, certain events might be designated as nationally significant. At this stage, we do not recommend introducing a formal escalation mechanism until these issues have been fully explored by cross-government partners and stakeholders, including the appropriate balance between local referral and central oversight. Ongoing work, including the UK Resilience Academy’s review of Safety Advisory Group guidance and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services’ inspection of police contributions to Safety Advisory Groups, will inform this consideration.