The Home Office will make public the findings from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services on the information and intelligence used by West Midlands Police to assess and categorise the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match on 6 November, and how accurately this reflected intelligence received from the Netherlands Police, as soon as this is provided.

The Home Office does not hold any information on whether the Muslim Brotherhood or other organisations subject to government non-engagement shared information with West Midlands Police in relation to this match.

Similarly, the Home Office does not hold any information on discussions between West Midlands Police and the Metropolitan Police, MI5, Cabinet Office, or the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre in relation to this match.

A reply to the Honourable Member for West Suffolk’s letter of 2 January 2026 will be sent in due course.

Section 40 of the Police Act 1996 enables the Home Secretary to direct a PCC or Mayor where a force is failing, in exceptional circumstances.

The power for the Home Secretary to require a police authority to call on a Chief Constable to retire was removed through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and the power to dismiss Chief Constables now rests with Police and Crime Commissioners.

The Home Secretary has already taken action and commissioned HMICFRS to review the information and intelligence used by West Midlands Police.

The findings from this are due to be provided on 12 January.

The Policing Minister wrote to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 24 November to request an urgent update clarifying the provenance of the intelligence gathered by his force and his confidence in this. The Chief Constable replied on 28 November.

The Home Office routinely engages with international partners as part of its departmental interests in policing, border security and immigration. Officials have met with Dutch counterparts in recent weeks on these matters, including as part of efforts to ensure full transparency around the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the fixture against Aston Villa in November. Ministers have not directly engaged with Ministers from the Netherlands on this specific matter.

To ensure full independent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events. HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December.

Additionally, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments. The government awaits the Committee’s findings. Correspondence between the Committee and relevant parties is routinely published on the Committee’s official website.

The Policing Minister wrote to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 24 November to request an urgent update clarifying the provenance of the intelligence gathered by his force and his confidence in this. The Chief Constable replied on 28 November.

The Home Office routinely engages with international partners as part of its departmental interests in policing, border security and immigration. Officials have met with Dutch counterparts in recent weeks on these matters, including as part of efforts to ensure full transparency around the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the fixture against Aston Villa in November. Ministers have not directly engaged with Ministers from the Netherlands on this specific matter.

To ensure full independent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events. HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December.

Additionally, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments. The government awaits the Committee’s findings. Correspondence between the Committee and relevant parties is routinely published on the Committee’s official website.

I wrote to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on 24 November to request an urgent update clarifying the provenance of the intelligence gathered by his force and his confidence in this. The Chief Constable replied on 28 November. I again wrote on 10 December, in the interests of transparency, seeking clarification of the engagement the West Midlands Police undertook with Jewish community stakeholders to inform its community impact assessment.

The Home Office routinely engages with international partners as part of its departmental interests in policing, border security and immigration. Officials have met with Dutch counterparts in recent weeks on these matters, including as part of efforts to ensure full transparency around the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending the fixture against Aston Villa in November.

The gathering and assessment of police intelligence is a matter for West Midlands Police, and the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit who undertake the role of National Football Information Point.

To ensure full independent scrutiny, the Home Secretary has commissioned His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect how police forces in England and Wales provide risk assessment advice to local Safety Advisory Groups and other bodies responsible for licensing high-profile public events. HMICFRS has been asked to provide an initial response on the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match by 31 December.

Additionally, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an evidence session on 1 December to examine the decision-making process and intelligence assessments. The government awaits the Committee’s findings. Correspondence between the Committee and relevant parties is routinely published on the Committee’s official website.

The police are operationally independent of Government. Officials routinely engage with operational partners to support public safety and effective policing.

The Home Office does not publish operational intelligence or risk assessments produced by police forces or overseas law enforcement agencies. Doing so could compromise public safety, ongoing investigations, and relationships with international partners.

I am aware that the Honourable Member has, since tabling these questions, placed in the public domain reports by the West Midlands Police inputting into the local Safety Advisory Group, and the Netherlands Inspectorate of Justice and Security.

I also gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 1 December on this issue which is available at: 1 December 2025 - Football Policing - Oral evidence - Committees - UK Parliament

The police are operationally independent of Government. Officials routinely engage with operational partners to support public safety and effective policing.

The Home Office does not publish operational intelligence or risk assessments produced by police forces or overseas law enforcement agencies. Doing so could compromise public safety, ongoing investigations, and relationships with international partners.

I am aware that the Honourable Member has, since tabling these questions, placed in the public domain reports by the West Midlands Police inputting into the local Safety Advisory Group, and the Netherlands Inspectorate of Justice and Security.

I also gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 1 December on this issue which is available at: 1 December 2025 - Football Policing - Oral evidence - Committees - UK Parliament