Safety Advisory Group for Wembley National Stadium

Minutes of the meeting held in the Ayton and Simpson Room, Wembley Park Project Office, 1 The Junction, Wembley Retail Park, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9 0EG Tuesday 6 June 2017 at 10.00am

Present: Chris Whyte Brent Council (Operational Director) – Chair Pol Exeter (PE) Brent Council (Community Protection) Xx Brent Council (Community Protection) Paul Richards (PR) Brent Council (Transport) Daryl Jooste (DJ) Brent Council (Emergency Planning) Xx Brent Council (Emergency Planning) Xx Brent Council (Minutes) xx Metropolitan Police xx London Ambulance Service xx Sports Grounds Safety Authority xx Wembley Park xx Wembley Park xx WNSL xx WNSL xx WNSL xx WNSL xx Tottenham Hotspur FC

Agenda Item and Comments Item No. 1. Introductions

2. Apologies for Absence:

xx - Chiltern Railways xx - Chiltern Railways xx - Metropolitan Police xx - Metropolitan Police xx - TFL xx - TFL Tony Kennedy - Brent Council (Transportation) Xx - Brent Council (Building Control) Xx - London Fire Brigade Xx - British Transport Police

3. Accuracy of minutes of last meeting

The minutes were accepted as being accurate.

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4. Matters arising

Table top exercise – stadium to inform the Certifying Authority in good time the dates of, and contingency plans being tested at, all table top exercises.

Outstanding – alterations to the sports ground. The Certifying Authority has found it difficult to engage with the WNSL staff who are responsible for supervising the building works. LB to chase.

Action: JE to inform the council of the date of the table top exercises. Action: LB to arrange for xx to liaise with PE regarding alterations to the stadium.

5. Spectator safety issues that arose at recent events a. Metropolitan Police – none.

b. London Fire Brigade – not present at meeting.

c. London Ambulance Service – none.

d. British Transport Police – not present at meeting.

e. LBB Emergency Planning – none.

f. LBB Transportation – none. . g. LBB Building Control – not present at meeting.

h. Transport for London – not present at meeting.

i. Chiltern Railways – not present at meeting

j. LBB Public Safety – As below. PE said that extra security measures that had been put in place for the FA cup final following the Manchester bombing had greatly improved security at the stadium and WNSL said that these measures would continue.

k. SGSA – none.

l. WNSL – As below. Boxing 29 April 2017 – PE said there was a breakdown of safety management especially on the pitch. Most spectators other than those in the ringside seats stood throughout the event, many of them standing on the flip up seats. This started during the undercard bouts and the stewards missed the opportunity to deal with it at that stage. Standing became more widespread and persistent during the main bout between Joshua and Klitschko. Stewards made some ineffective attempts to require spectators to sit, but by that time they had lost control. LB disputed that there was a breakdown of safety management. WNSL said they had received 10 complaints regarding the event and LB said he would share these complaints with PE. PE would share the complaint received by Brent Council. MC said there were no reported medical incidents on pitch.

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Sky Bet League One play off (Millwall v Blackpool) 20 May 2017 There was a significant pitch invasion at the end of the game and a smoke bomb was discharged during the match. This was the first pitch invasion since the new Wembley Stadium had opened. PE said that the Certifying Authority was surprised to hear at the Safety Officer’s briefing that Millwall supporters did not use smoke bombs or flares, given their reputation when visiting other sportsgrounds. ST added that Millwall supporters became engaged in unsafe acts when they played at White Hart Lane. The Certifying Authority had arranged a debrief meeting to discuss the Milwall game but this was postponed because the security threat level had been increased to critical and the WNSL management and the Police were busy attending high level security meetings. LB said WNSL had systems in place to deal effectively with any future pitch invasion. WNSL will be looking at measures for future games involving Millwall. CW said that a letter of complaint should be written to the club. LB said that there had been no intelligence re smoke bomb. Action: LB to share these measure with the council. FA Cup Final 27 May 2017 – CW asked re heightened arrangements. LB said that there was 100% bag search and pat down. The crowd arrived early and there were no issues. The crowd were well behaved. WNSL would continue with 100% pat down, bag search and wanding at all events. PE said there was a significant improvement in safety management at the event. There was some confusion regarding tagging of bags. The Safety Officer briefed managers that shopping bags should not be tagged. However, at some turnstiles shopping bags were tagged and at others they were not tagged. PE used the emergency telephone to require that the Safety Officer issue clear and unambiguous to the Safety Managers so that a consistent approach was followed. xxl, the event Safety Officer, said at the meeting that the decision not to tag shopping bags was made because of insufficient tags. LB said WNSL will consider if plastic bags should be tagged in future. Merchandise would be sold in clear bags in the new season. Dogs were on site to search for explosives. PE said that searching was still haphazard and inconsistent; some non-shopping bags and some coats carried over arms were not searched. Searching needed to be improved. LE said temporary barriers on Turnstile 2 level were successful and asked if it would continue. LB would assess if it would continue for concerts. AT said that events had gone well over the bank holiday weekend. Action: PE and LB to share complaints received regarding Boxing on 29 April 2017. Action: PE to organise a debriefing to discuss the issues at the Sky Bet League One play off on 20 May 2017 and WSAG to write a letter of complaint to Millwall FC regarding the behaviour of their supporters. Action: WNSL to improve the searching regime. Managers should demonstrate how to carry out an effective search and pat down.

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6 Structure Chart showing new Operations Director and Board Member with specific responsibility for safety at WNSL

PE requested the structure chart.

Action: LB to issue structure chart to PE following xx start on 12 June 2017.

7 Appointment of Safety Officer and Deputy Safety Officers for WNSL and their job descriptions

PE asked for an update on the appointment to this statutory role. Action: LB to update PE regarding WNSL safety officers. 8 Implications of THFC playing all matches at Wembley National Stadium for 2017/2018 season

ST would attend WSAG going forward. ST would be meeting to talk about stewarding. ST confirmed that there would be Tottenham FC representation in the control room.

There would be a conference call on 5 July 2017 at 10am, after the Premier League fixture list has been released, to discuss the implications and initial risks associated with certain fixtures.

9 WNSL action plan and timetable for implementing recommendations in recent Annual Safety Inspection Report and Structural report from Mott Macdonald

PE thanked WNSL for submissions so far. JE said fire risk assessment and action plan had been carried out and recommendations have been actioned or would be done by the end of the year. PE reminded the meeting that some of these actions were mentioned in the previous year’s (2015) report and reported in the 2016 report. PE asked why it should take so long to prepare the action plan. Action: JE to send the fire safety action plan as well as a plan to rectify the defects and deficiencies mentioned in the Mott McDonald structural report to PE as soon as possible.

10 Late submission of safety documentation to the certifying authority

PE emphasised the importance of WNSL ensuring that the safety certificate is sent to Brent Council at least 10 working days in advance of events. PE and AH to discuss. PE said that the council had not yet received all safety documentation for this weekend’s Capital Summertime Ball. It is important that the council receives them immediately because PE would be on leave on Friday, the day before the event and that if he does not receive it WNSL run the risk of not having a special safety certificate to enable them to hold the event.

Action: LB and AH to submit all outstanding documentation to PE ASAP.

11. Significant planned structural or operational changes at the stadium

AH said internal work on hospitality areas would start in July 2017.

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12 Forthcoming events

Capital Summertime Ball – 10 June 2017 Attendance – 80,000 Start time - 15:00 Measures as per bank holiday weekend in place. Communications will be put out so that large bags won’t be allowed to be brought in. 9.40 last acts. Teams will be in place at meeting points and would be enhanced. Curfew 22.30. Meeting will take place on 7 June 2017 to review security.

Stone Roses Concert – 17 June 2017 Attendance – 75,000; Start time – gates 5pm Stones Roses on stage 20.45.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO Concert – 27 June 2017 Attendance 65,000; Start time – gates 5pm, 20.30 ELO on stage Layout similar to Billy Joel concert

Adele Concert – 28-29 June; 1-2 July 2017 Attendance - 98,000; Start time – gates 18.00, 17.30 on Sunday Communications would be sent out to let concert goers know that they should to arrive early Curfew 22.30 / 22.00 Lots of people in cars expected. LE asked about ticket collections and WNSL confirmed there were a very low amount.

13. Development around Wembley National Stadium with spectator safety implications / Quintain

WSAG agreed that this does not need to be a standing agenda item and that updates would be discussed as and when necessary.

12. Any other business

a. Daily Mail article about poor safety and security at the stadium is being investigated.

b. PE would speak offline regarding complaints received by the council.

c. LB clarified that there would be no extra layer in WNSL structure for the Safety Officers and would share details with PE.

d. LE asked if a safety officer decision was challenged / overruled. WNSL said the incident had been investigated and it was found that the Event management did not go against the safety officer’s recommendation and he hadn’t been overruled. PE asked LB if his version of events were shared with the Deputy Safety Officer who had reported the incident. LB said that it was discussed and the Deputy SO was in agreement.

e. DJ commented that communications during the bank holiday weekend were good and he hoped it would continue.

f. AT said that a proper review of the emergency plan would be useful following concert season.

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g. Regarding closure of Engineers Way, PR said that historically Engineers Way had been closed.

h. LE said that with recent terrorist events crowds are increasingly sensitive and could be easily spooked and that good information should be given to crowds.

i. CW thanked partners for the good work they had carried out over the previous few weeks. 13. Dates of future SAG Meetings

5 July 2017 @ 10.00 – WSAG Conference call re THFC 13 September 2017 @ 10.00 hrs re NFL, Rugby

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