Sports Grounds Safety Authority Bill (Money)

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts

Monday 15th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for his courtesy earlier today. As he said, the Football Licensing Authority was established in the wake of tragedies at football grounds such as Hillsborough in 1989 and Heysel in 1985. Following Lord Justice Taylor’s final report on the Hillsborough disaster, the FLA was charged with responsibility for monitoring local authorities’ oversight of spectator safety at international, premiership and football league grounds.

The Minister is absolutely right about the FLA’s importance. My right hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth) referred to the establishment of the FLA as a debt of honour to the families of those who lost their lives at Hillsborough; my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg), who was at Hillsborough on the day of the tragedy, said that he believes the FLA was the correct response to helping to ensure that nothing like that happens again; and my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) has already raised a series of concerns and questions about the Bill with the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), and I know that she will scrutinise its details as it proceeds through the House. Other hon. Members with Merseyside constituencies and interested members of the public have also raised a number of questions.

Margaret Aspinall, of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, for example, said that the Government

“must make sure there is no cost-cutting on safety.”

We agree and believe that any dilution of the focus on safety at football grounds would be a cause for concern. I welcome the additional details that the Minister has provided today, because it is fair to say that the detail of the Government’s intentions had not been crystal clear.

The Government announced the abolition of the FLA in the spending review and said that its responsibilities were being “transferred to another body”. They obviously support the Bill, but the Minister for the Cabinet Office has been reported as saying that the responsibility for safety at grounds will shift to local authorities, so although we will not oppose the motion, we will vigorously scrutinise the Bill in Committee in order to ensure that safety is not compromised.