§ Mr. Pendryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will make known the findings of his 333W inquiry into the disturbances which took place in Paris prior to, during, and after the England versus France soccer game on 29 February 1984.
§ Mr. Macfarlane[pursuant to his reply, 17 May 1984, c. 230]: I have received reports from my officials (one of whom was present at the match), the British embassy, the Football Association, the police and from others who were present at the match. Whilst there is no formal "inquiry", and there is no published report, my discussions and investigations aimed at isolating the lessons to be learned continue.
It is already apparent that some of the provisions of the Council of Europe recommendation on spectator violence were not fully implemented, and that the control of travel arrangements for supporters and of ticket sales continues to be vital. I made this clear to my colleagues at the conference of European Ministers responsible for sport last week, and we adopted a resolution which I tabled agreeing that we would each do everything possible to ensure full implementation of the recommendation for future matches.
§ Mr. Pendryasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when the liaison group he set up to coordinate arrangements to combat football hooliganism last met; and when it is next scheduled to meet.
§ Mr. Macfarlane[pursuant to his reply, 17 May 1984, c. 230]: The liaison group last met on 16 February, but since then there have been a number of informal contacts and meetings between those concerned, notably to prepare for the seven recent European club competitions matches involving British clubs playing on the continent. I anticipate that the group will meet again during the close season to review recent events and the measures taken.
The liaison group was responsible for preparing the blue print of measures to be adopted by league clubs to combat spectator violence at matches in England. This was circulated, with my endorsement, to all league clubs at the beginning of this season. The work of the group was also used, with the existing UEFA rules, as the basis for the Council of Europe recommendation on spectator violence, which was produced at my instigation. This document lists the precautions to be taken at matches in Europe, and was formally adopted by the Committee of (Foreign) Ministers in March 1984.