§ Mr. LesterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recommendations of the Popplewell report which bear on the responsibilities of his Department have not been implemented; what were those recommendations; and, in each case, what are the reasons they have not been acted upon.
§ Mr. John PattenFour recommendations of the final report of the Popplewell inquiry which bear on the responsibility of my right hon. Friend have not been wholly implemented.
Recommendation 9(i) and (iii): as set out in the consultative document published in June 1986 the Government took the view that as safety certificates are instruments of continuing control it would not be appropriate to renew them annually or for local authorities to have powers to revoke them. The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 provides for offences for a breach of any term or condition in a safety certificate and gives a separate power to local authorities to prohibit or restrict the admission of spectators to any part of a sports ground if there is judged to be a serious risk to their safety.
Recommendation 11: the Government considered that it would be wrong to provide a power of search which went further than existing statutory powers based on reasonable suspicion. A club may refuse admission to its ground to persons unwilling to be searched.
Recommendation 12: section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 provides an offence of disorderly conduct which is applicable in all public places, with the qualification that someone within hearing or sight of the conduct in question is likely to be caused alarm, distress or harassment. The Government is not persuaded that this qualification should be dispensed with.
Recommendation 13: section 5 of the Public Order Act 1936 has recently been re-enacted in the Public Order Act 1986 and is supplemented by the wide general powers of 45W arrest in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The Government are not convinced that it is necessary to broaden these provisions further.