asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with measures taken thus far by the responsible authorities to combat soccer hooliganism at home and abroad.

So long as soccer hooliganism continues, I am not satisfied.At home there is general acceptance that hooliganism within football grounds is slowly diminishing as the result of preventive measures taken by the responsible authorities. There is still the occasional serious incident, but the majority of these now take place outside the grounds and these are matters for the law and order authorities.Similarly, most serious incidents abroad also take place outside football grounds. I am concerned, however, that the UEFA rules on ticket distribution and crowd segregation are sometimes ignored in European matches involving British clubs and national sides. Officials of my Department and the Football Association, therefore, now travel to important European matches in advance to offer guidance to the responsible authorities.I recently outlined to the Football Association a four-point plan for dealing with crowd violence. This included:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with relevant football, police and travel authorities on the problem of hooliganism related to football matches.

I set up a liaison group to oversee the arrangements made by the Spanish authorities for dealing with crowd behaviour during last summer's World Cup. The group comprised representatives of the three Football Associations, the relevant Government Departments, the Civil Aviation Authority, British Rail and Sea Link—although not all these representatives met on a regular basis.The group established good contacts with the soccer, central and local authorities in Spain and I believe that its work made some contribution to the comparatively low level of crowd violence during that competition.I have now reconvened the liaison group, which is chaired by the chairman of the Football Association. It will oversee the arrangements for matches in Europe involving the national side and club matches of a critical nature. Its membership is to be extended to cover hooliganism at home.