Public Order offences in football grounds

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.033016

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please can I request data relating to the number of public order offences at the following football grounds and training centres:

1. Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 782 High Rd, London N17 0BX
2. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Training Ground, Hotspur Way, Whitewebbs Ln, Enfield EN2 9AP
3. Tottenham Hotspur Women (Leyton Orient FC), Brisbane Rd, London E10 5NF
4. Arsenal FC Emirates Stadium, Hornsey Rd, London N7 7AJ
5. West Ham United FC London Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E20 2ST
6. West Ham Training Ground, Rush Green Rd, Romford RM7 0LU
7. West Ham Women (Dagenham & Redbridge), Dagenham, Essex RM10 7XL
8. Crystal Palace FC Selhurst Park Stadium, Holmesdale Road, London, SE25 6PU
9. Crystal Palace FC Training Ground, Copers Cope Rd, Beckenham BR3 1RJ
10. Crystal Palace Women (Sutton United Football Club), The VBS Community Stadium, Gander Green Ln, Sutton SM1 2EY
11. Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road, London, SW6 1HS
12. Chelsea Women, 422A Jack Goodchild Way, Kingston Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT1 3PB
13. Fulham FC Stevenage Road, London, SW6 6HH
14. Fulham Women’s + Fulham FC Training Ground, Motspur Park, New Malden KT3 6PT
15. Brentford FC Gtech Community Stadium, Lionel Road South, Brentford, TW8 0RU
16. Brentford F.C. Training Ground, 100 Jersey Rd, Osterley, Hounslow TW5 0TP
17. Brentford Women, Bedfont Recreation Ground, Bedfont Rec Ground/Hatton Rd, Hatton Rd, London, Feltham TW14 9QS

I request the collated data between 5 August 2022 to 28 May 2023 to be broken down by location and by definition of public order offence – violent disorder, offences against the state or public order, racially or religiously aggravated public fear, public fear alarm or distress.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 22(1)(a) – Information intended for future publication

Reason for decision

Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act provides public authorities with an exclusion from the duty to disclose information under Section 1(1)(b) of the Act, when the information is held with a view to its publication by any person, at any future date (whether determined or not). This exemption has been applied because the information requested is scheduled for release at a future date.

The MPS has a process for both identifying and publishing police information that is of public interest. This is an established process that is primarily designed to engage the general public in the work of the police service but importantly, also serves to reduce the financial and administrative cost of responding to requests for information under the Act.

The MPS receives a considerable number of requests for information that is due to be published and, in particular data relating to offences at football grounds. It would be both administratively and financially prohibitive for the MPS to collate information and respond to individual requests, when the information requested will be published in the near future. This is particularly relevant in this case, as the MPS has committed to publishing the information sought in the near future.

Section 22 of the Act has been applied because the MPS has scheduled this information for future publication. For this reason, I consider that the financial and administrative cost of attempting to collate data separately at this stage would be contrary to the public interest. I have also considered that the identified public interest factors favouring disclosure will be satisfied upon publication of this information and I have provided a link to the MPS Publication Scheme where future data will be published.

As outlined above, I also believe that it would be inefficient and financially prohibitive for the MPS to respond to individual requests for information when the information sought is scheduled for publication.

For these reasons, it is not in the public interest to disclose the requested information at this time and I have accordingly refused this request for information.

Disclosure

Following is the count of public order offences at specific football training grounds, by minor offence category and location recorded between 05/8/2022 and 28/5/2023:

Minor offence category	Location	Count of offences
Public Fear Alarm or Distress	Crystal Palace F.C. Training Ground	1
	Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre	1
Grand Total		2

DUTY TO ADVISE & ASSIST
Under Section 16 of the Act, there is a duty to advise and assist applicants in making requests for information and I have included a link below to the MPS’ Publication Scheme where data regarding Football Stadiums will be published at a future date.

Met Police Published Items