Newham Safety Advisory Group

Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs), chaired by the council, provide the local authority with specialist advice on how it may effectively discharge its responsibilities under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975.

A safety certificate sets the permitted capacity for a sports ground together with the detailed terms and conditions with which the ground management must comply in order to operate the sports ground at its permitted capacity.

Over the last 9 years we have been campaigning to have supporter representation on the Newham SAG. Initiality Newham would not even publish the minutes of the meetings, but they reluctantly agreed when we showed that other councils publish minutes of their SAG meetings.

The West Ham SAG meets about 4 to 6 times a year and the minutes are published at:
https://www.newham.gov.uk/business-licensing-regulation/safety-sports-grounds

Background

Whilst many different groups are represented on the Newham SAG, despite repeated requests, a supporter representative has not been allowed to participate. Yet other councils welcome a supporter representative to attend their SAG meetings.

In the findings of the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry, published in 1990, Lord Justice Taylor recommended that, ‘To assist the local authority in exercising its functions, it should set up an advisory group (if this has not already been done) consisting of appropriate members of its own staff, representatives of the police, of the fire and ambulance services and of the building authority. The advisory group should consult representatives of the club and of a recognised supporters’ organisation on a regular basis.

The Sports Ground Safety Authority lays down the guidance for the licencing of all Premier League or Football League grounds in England and Wales. Their recommendation for local authority SAGs that in addition to appropriate members of local authority staff, the SAG should include representatives of the following:

·       Local authority, including building control, highways, environmental health and emergency planning
·       The sports ground being discussed – the certificate holder, safety officer and any other relevant representative as necessary, such as medical provider
·       Police
·       Fire service
·       Medical / ambulance service
·       Fan representative

December 2025

Kevin Hind from the Supporters Trust attended the SAG meeeting on behalf of the Fan Advisory Board.

In this instance a supporter representative was only allowed to attend the first part of the meeting, where specific safety related items that had been raised by supporter groups were discussed.

As this was the first meeting where a supporter was able to sit on the SAG, it was agreed to leave on the understanding that the supporter rep would be able to attend more of subsequent meetings as trust and confidence is established.

We will not see what was discussed at the rest of the meeting until the full minutes are published by Newham.

Note that these minutes are from the 5th December meeting and not the date specified.

Note: ATTRO. Anti-Terrorism Traffic Regulation Order. This is a specific type of traffic order that allows UK police and local authorities to quickly put in place measures to restrict or regulate vehicle and pedestrian access in a specific area for the purpose of avoiding or reducing the likelihood of danger or damage connected with terrorism.

September 2025

The new chair of Newham SAG is now in place (Edward King) who has confirmed that he would welcome a supporter representative to participate in future meetings, subject to confiring arrangements.

One of the Trust board attends the SGSA full day’s training course on local authority safety certification.

May 2025

WHUST attended this year’s Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) Conference held at Aintree Racecourse.

The standout moment came during a breakout session on fan engagement and Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs). We publicly raised the ongoing issue of West Ham’s continued exclusion of supporter representation on its SAG - a long-running concern for WHUST. This sparked a positive response from the SGSA to help us with our ultimate aim of ensuring fan representation on the SAG. SGSA Chair Giles Smith said that he would liaise with Newham Councilto help our case.

The session also featured representatives from the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), who reaffirmed their long-standing support for fan inclusion on SAGs and pledged to continue assisting WHUST. They highlighted the benefits of involving experienced supporters in safety planning and cited progress at other clubs.

Subsequent to this meeting we had discussions with David Rose - Deputy CEO from The Football Supporters' Association who confirmed that he was in talks with both Giles Smith and Newham and that supporter representation was progressing.

December 2024

The latest edition of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority’s Guide to Safety Certification published in December 2024 states:

The Taylor Report into the Hillsborough Disaster recommended that the SAG should consult with representatives “of a recognised supporters’ organisation on a regular basis”. Many achieve this by inviting a representative of supporters to be a member of the SAG. This is strongly encouraged.

January 2024

In January 2024 Martyn Henderson was appointed as the interim Chief Operating Officer to lead the preparatory work to set up the new Independent Regulator for English Football (IREF). Martyn was previously the former CEO of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, so is very knowledgeable about the workings of SAGs.

WHUST wrote to Martyn after his appointment expressing concern about the lack of supporter representation on football stadium SAGs.

Martyn responded in an email:

Thanks for your letter, which was waiting for me when I arrived for my first day!
For the time being, these will be matters for the Department rather than the regulator (as we do not yet have any powers, staff etc.!) so I will need to pass it to a colleague here for their consideration.
Best wishes,
Martyn

Response from Martyn’s colleague in the Ministerial Support Team:

August 2023

What are the reasons given from Newham Council that there shouldn’t be a supporter representative on the Newham West Ham SAG.

There are already a large number of organisations represented and not really room for any more.

There have always been a large number going back to when the club moved to the London Stadium. This might have been a possible valid excuse originally, but since this original rebuff the SAG (which specifically pertains only to West Ham matches), in the last year has admitted representatives from each of Abba Voyage and Sadlers Wells. Yes – they are more concerned about the impact that West Ham matches played at the London Stadium will have on spectators to see Abba Voyage or Gilbert and Sullivan operas at Sadlers Wells than the concerns of over 60,000 football spectators! Sadlers Wells East doesn’t even open until February 2025.

That there are many different West Ham supporter organisations and that they should not favour any one group over another.

That’s why there has been an Independent Supporters Committee consisting of many supporter groups over the last 4 years and now replaced by the Fan Advisory Board. A representative from the FAB would be the ideal candidate to attend on behalf of supporter groups.

That confidential information is discussed at SAG meetings and that a supporter representative would not be considered trustworthy to retain such confidences.

Two of WHUST’s board members sit on the Metropolitan Police Football Independent Advisory Group. Their meetings are held under the auspices of the Official Secrets Act requiring a much higher level of confidentiality. If the Met can trust supporter representatives then so should Newham Council.

February 2017

There was reluctance from Newham Council to publish the minutes at all and it took a campaign by supporter groups, forums and fanzines to obtain copies of initial SAG meetings through a Freedom of Information request:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/london_stadium_safety_advisory_g_2

WHUST22 December 2025