Dr Richard Hester

The Restorative Practices Knowledge Exchange was held at Ulster University, Belfast Campus, from 2nd to 4th April, 2019. The event brought together restorative practitioners, associated organisations and academics from different countries to share knowledge and experiences on building restorative services and the challenges and opportunities faced in developing restorative practices in the future. The three day event considered a range of issues, including: the future of adult Restorative Services; restorative practice for young people; the role of communities in restorative practice; the breadth of situations were restorative practices can have a positive impact; and the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8 concerning restorative justice in criminal matters. The event comprised a series of group and panel discussions on these topics informed by a short, anonymous questionnaire designed to highlight the issues most pertinent to those working in this area.

This thesis provides an original contribution through analysing the interplay between Special Police Services (SPS) and the policing of football in England and Wales. A 2017 ruling from Ipswich Town Football Club Co Ltd v Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary restricted the area that police forces can cost recover through (SPS) from the policing of events. According to data produced in 2019 by South Yorkshire Police, the cost of policing football in England and Wales is £48 million, with only £5.5 million cost recovered by police forces through SPS. With seemingly no scrutiny, this figure was accepted in Parliamentary debate as factual. This thesis utilised Freedom of Information (FOI) data to establish the true cost of football policing, as well as semi-structured interviews with police officers, football club representatives and other key stakeholders linked to football policing in England and Wales. This research shows that the existing data on the cost of policing football is inaccurate, with £48 million likely being an overestimate, and the amount being recovered through SPS averaging around £10 million over recent seasons. Furthermore, SPS negotiations between football clubs and police forces are shown to cause hostility and create difficult relationships between football clubs and police forces, potentially compromising safety. Stewarding of football was found to need greater professionalisation. Whilst, police resourcing of football was found to be risk averse, with fixtures being over resourced with public order policing assets and a lack of utilisation of specialist football resources. This research calls for more liaison based policing of football, using fewer but more specialist resourcing. It is argued that the catalyst for change should be the abolition of SPS, as the police service role in policing football needs reframing.

Football policing in England and Wales is a key area of activity for the police service, with a reported £48m being spent each season on policing football. There is a reported increase in football related disorder following the Covid-19 pandemic, and calls for more police resources to be deployed to football. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews, this research triangulates views from Dedicated Football Officers (DFOs); football club representatives; and other key stakeholders for policing football in England and Wales. The research shows multiple examples of ineffective and inefficient police resourcing at football matches. There is a greater emphasis on utilisation of public order units, which comes at great cost for the taxpayer, as well as football clubs. Here, it is argued that a focus on more specialised resources for policing football, such as spotters, will lead to better outcomes in terms of preventing crime and improving relations with football supporter communities.

In 2019, the reported cost of policing football, according to an infographic on South Yorkshire Police’s website, was £48 million per season with £5.5 million being recovered by the police from football clubs. These figures were discussed in Parliament and deemed accurate by politicians. Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing, says police forces cannot continue to subsidise a multi-billion-pound industry. This research uses Freedom of Information requests submitted to all police forces in England and Wales, to establish the true cost of football policing. The results demonstrate that previous data is unreliable, as the actual amount recovered through Special Police Services from football clubs averaged £10 million per season between 2015 to 2019. This paper shows that police forces do not have a grasp of how much is spent on football policing, and the £48 million headline figure is likely overestimated, raising concerns about the lack of transparency over the data in the South Yorkshire Police infographic. Finally, the paper calls for further research to establish the exact cost of football policing, and consideration of more efficient methods of football policing that can help to reduce costs and prevent disorder.

In 2019, the reported cost of policing football, according to an infographic on South Yorkshire Police’s website, was £48 million per season with £5.5 million being recovered by the police from football clubs. These figures were discussed in Parliament and deemed accurate by politicians. Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing, says police forces cannot continue to subsidise a multi-billion-pound industry. This research uses Freedom of Information requests submitted to all police forces in England and Wales, to establish the true cost of football policing. The results demonstrate that previous data is unreliable, as the actual amount recovered through Special Police Services from football clubs averaged £10 million per season between 2015 to 2019. This paper shows that police forces do not have a grasp of how much is spent on football policing, and the £48 million headline figure is likely overestimated, raising concerns about the lack of transparency over the data in the South Yorkshire Police infographic. Finally, the paper calls for further research to establish the exact cost of football policing, and consideration of more efficient methods of football policing that can help to reduce costs and prevent disorder.

In 2019, the reported cost of policing football, according to an infographic on South Yorkshire Police’s website, was £48 million per season with £5.5 million being recovered by the police from football clubs. These figures were discussed in Parliament and deemed accurate by politicians. Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing, says police forces cannot continue to subsidise a multi-billion-pound industry. This research uses Freedom of Information requests submitted to all police forces in England and Wales, to establish the true cost of football policing. The results demonstrate that previous data is unreliable, as the actual amount recovered through Special Police Services from football clubs averaged £10 million per season between 2015 to 2019. This paper shows that police forces do not have a grasp of how much is spent on football policing, and the £48 million headline figure is likely overestimated, raising concerns about the lack of transparency over the data in the South Yorkshire Police infographic. Finally, the paper calls for further research to establish the exact cost of football policing, and consideration of more efficient methods of football policing that can help to reduce costs and prevent disorder.

Senior officers responsible for policing football highlight a concerning increase in football hooliganism involving young people in England and Wales. This study is specifically concerned with people under 18 years old that are engaged with hooliganism in connection with football matches, which is an under-researched problem despite recent high-profile incidents. Surveys and interviews with football club safety officers, and police officers involved in football policing were conducted to gain a first-hand insight into this issue. Freedom of Information requests were sent to the Home Office, to establish data trends in youth arrests, banning orders and disorder at football. Despite the concerns of senior police officers, it was found that there is no readily available Home Office data on football hooliganism involving young people. The study highlights that this issue is perceived to be increasing, with children as young as 10 being involved. Whilst there is some indication that football banning orders are being used on under 18s, this is currently seen as a last resort for police forces with a range of interventions being used in order to divert young people away from football hooliganism. However, there is no nationally adopted approach to managing this issue. Youth projects have had successful results in preventing under 18s from going on to reoffend in a football context. Best practice interventions are recommended, which if adopted by football clubs and police forces may help to minimise the impact of football violence involving young people.

This presentation was given at the Restorative Justice Council national conference on 18th November, 2019. It details key learning from the Restorative Practices Knowledge Exchange, which took place at Ulster University between 2nd and 4th April, 2019. The event was jointly organised by the University of Gloucestershire and Ulster University and brought together restorative practitioners, associated organisations and academics from Northern and Southern Ireland, England, and Sierra Leone. The presentations considers a range of the issues discussed across the three-days, focusing on the challenges and opportunities faced in developing and providing restorative services. This includes: the differences between top-down, police-led, services and bottom-up, community-led, services; using restorative approaches in Education and Youth Justice; the role of Restorative practice in Prisons & Housing; and the suitability of restorative practice in cases of Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse.