Select committee: International Agreements Committee
Conclusion 21
23rd Report - Scrutiny of International Agreements: Council of Europe Convention on Sports Event Safety and Security 2023
Published 7 Sep 2023
International Agreements Committee All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We welcome the Convention’s measures for improving safety and report the Convention to the House for information, highlighting our comments in paragraphs 7, 12, 14, 16 and 18. 8 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS COMMITTEE
From: International Agreements Committee, 23rd Report - Scrutiny of International Agreements: Council of Europe Convention on Sports Event Safety and Security 2023, 7 September 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 December 2023 (deadline 7 November 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's support for ratifying the Saint-Denis Convention and states that England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are "already fully compliant" with its requirements.
- On the delay in laying the treaty, the government "understands the need to lay treaties at the earliest opportunity after signature" and says the Covid pandemic prevented ratification being taken forward as soon as it would have liked.
- On contested security funding, the government says that, "in the event that funding for the security of major sporting events is contested", DCMS and the Home Office "would convene key stakeholders" to resolve the issues and secure a settlement.
- On the National Football Information Point, it states that the UK has a "long-established" one operating within the UK Football Policing Unit, rather than setting out plans to establish one.
- On stakeholder communication, the government "agrees that regular engagement with key stakeholders is important" and says it "already meets" the Convention's requirements. On the Explanatory Memorandum, it "recognises the importance of a detailed" one and sets out how the Convention builds on the 1985 Convention.