Page:Hillsborough Taylor Interim Report Cm765.pdf/66

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8. Where there are perimeter fences, all gates to the pitch should be kept fully open during the period when spectators are on the terrace.
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9. There should be in respect of each gate in a perimeter fence (or group of gates if they are close together) a police officer authorised to decide whether or not to allow spectators through a gate to relieve overcrowding. The officer so authorised in respect of each gate should be identified for each match and known to be so by all stewards and police officers in that vicinity. He should be able to make radio contact with the control room either himself or via an officer close at hand.
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10. Suitable and sufficient cutting equipment should be provided by the club at each ground where there are perimeter fences to permit the immediate removal of enough fencing to release numbers of spectators if necessary. Agreement should be reached as to whether the equipment should be used by police, the fire brigade or stewards. Whoever is to use it should be trained to do so. Whether to use it should be a decision of a nominated senior police officer at the ground.

Crush Barriers

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11. All crush barriers should be visually inspected immediately for signs of corrosion. Any barrier found to be affected by a significant degree of corrosion should be repaired or replaced.
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12. The layout of barriers in each pen or terraced area should be reviewed immediately to ensure that it complies with the criteria contained in Chapter 9 of the Green Guide. If it does not, the assessment of the maximum capacity figure for that pen or terraced area, in accordance with Recommendation 2 above, should reflect the fact.

Safety Certificates

 
13. There should be an immediate review of each Safety Certificate by the responsible local authority, which should consult the club in respect of which the Certificate is issued, the police, the fire service, the ambulance service and the building authority. Such a review should include an inspection of the stadium. Its object should be to ensure that the operative conditions of the Certificate are complied with and to add or substitute any condition shown to be necessary as a matter of urgency following the findings and recommendations in this report.
 
14. Any local authority within whose area there exists a sports stadium designated under the 1975 Act for which no Safety Certificate has yet been issued should proceed forthwith to remedy the situation.
 
15. Every Safety Certificate should be reviewed by the local authority at least once annually and each Certificate should require to be renewed annually.
 
16. Each local authority should review its arrangements for issuing, monitoring, enforcing, reviewing, amending and renewing Safety Certificates. Such review should require that there exists or is provided an accountable administrative structure whereby the functions of the local authority are regularly and effectively supervised by senior officers and elected members and decisions are properly taken in accordance with the local authority's rules.
 
17. To assist the local authority in exercising its functions, it should set up an Advisory Group consisting of appropriate members of its own staff, representatives of the police, of the fire and ambulance services, of the building authority, of the club and of a recognised supporters' club. The Advisory Group's terms of reference should encompass all matters concerned with crowd safety and should require regular visits to the ground and attendance at matches. The Advisory Group should have a chairman from the local authority, and an effective procedure. Its resolutions should be recorded and it should be required to produce regular written reports for consideration by the local authority.

Duties of each Football Club

 
18. Each turnstile should be inspected and its potential rate of flow measured. Thereafter, regular inspections should be made to ensure that each turnstile remains capable of admitting spectators at the rate anticipated.
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