Football fans gearing up for the new season are being reminded to ‘Know The Game Plan’ and report any security concerns to stewards or staff.

Officers have been working with the Premier League, EFL (English Football League) and individual clubs to enhance measures designed to keep supporters safe, and to raise and awareness of the threat from terrorism among club employees and supporters alike.

While there is no specific threat to football grounds, the project is part of a wider police plan to work more closely with different sectors such as retail, hospitality and entertainment to help protect the public.

Other sports such as rugby, tennis and cricket have also been supporting the ‘Know The Game Plan’ initiative, while former England internationals Alan Shearer, David Seaman and Paul Parker took part in a police campaign during the recent World Cup.

Nearly a quarter of a million sports event stewards have been issued with a short guide giving key advice to help protect crowds of spectators.

National Coordinator for Protective Security, Chief Superintendent Nick Aldworth said:

The chance of being caught up in a terrorist attack is low but we want the public to feel confident to come forward and report any concerns if they see something suspicious to matchday staff or police.

The more clubs encourage supporters to do this, the more likely they are to act on their instincts and not worry they might be mistaken or wasting time.

Most concerns will turn out to be nothing and that’s absolutely fine. It’s far better to say something than risk an important piece of information being missed.

Our mantra is Action Counters Terrorism. If you see something, don’t hesitate to ACT.

Bob Eastwood, Security and Operations Adviser for the EFL added:

Getting supporters to think about security is just part of the work football has been doing in partnership with the police.

Over the last 12 months we have held many events all over the country so counter-terrorism officers and stadium security managers can share their knowledge and do all we can to stay a step ahead.

The safety of all fans is football’s number one priority and we all have a role to play in doing everything we can to keep each other safe – police, officials and supporters.

The key ‘Know The Game Plan’ advice all fans are asked to follow is:

• arrive early, allowing more time for security checks
• minimise what you carry, fewer bag searches will speed up entry to the ground
• be vigilant at all times and if you see anything suspicious, tell a steward right away
• if you see anything that could pose an immediate threat to safety, call 999
• in an emergency, listen to the public address instructions and follow them
• if told to evacuate, do so immediately, do not wait around to film events on your mobile
• move right away from the stadium as quickly as possible for your safety and to allow clear access for any emergency vehicles
• once you are safe, follow the local police force on Twitter for updates

To find out more, visit Know The Game Plan or @TerrorismPolice

The 2 firms provide a range of managed laundry services to higher education customers such as universities, colleges and providers of student accommodation. These services include supplying and maintaining washing machines and tumble dryers, refurbishing laundry rooms and providing cashless payment services and apps to monitor machines remotely.

When JLA New Equity Co Limited (JLA) acquired Washstation Limited (Washstation) in May 2017, the transaction represented a merger between the 2 leading providers of managed laundry services to the higher education sector.

After receiving a complaint about the completed merger, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an initial Phase 1 investigation into the takeover in February 2018. It found significant competition concerns, namely that JLA’s purchase of its nearest competitor would give the merged company a market share of more than 90%.

As a result, the case was referred to a group of independent panel members at the CMA for an in-depth, Phase 2, investigation.

After considering a wide range of evidence, the CMA has issued provisional findings. It is concerned that the merger is likely to result in customers paying more for laundry services or receiving a lower quality service, which might ultimately impact students.

The CMA found that, following the merger, JLA now faces only limited competition. Other providers of managed laundry services in the higher education sector are not currently in a position to compete strongly with JLA / Washstation, and it is unlikely that any future expansion by these firms would be sufficient or quick enough to offset the loss of competition caused by the merger.

The investigation has also shown that companies providing laundry services in other sectors – for customers such as hospitals, care homes or leisure centres – would find it difficult to enter the higher education market and create enough competition to act as rivals for the merged company.

The CMA is now inviting comments on its provisional findings until 31 August. It will also seek comments up until 21 August on its remedies notice, which outlines measures the CMA could take if it finally decides that there has been a substantial lessening of competition.

Further details are available on the investigation case page.

Updated: Competition now open.

DASA is launching this competition to seek ideas for innovative technologies that provide an improved way to detect and locate hazardous biological agents in the field, in real-time.The ultimate aim is for a fieldable system that would detect and report without users (including trained military specialists and civilian first line responders) coming into close contact with the hazard.

By detecting these hazards as early as possible and remotely, this will enable users to safely avoid areas and highlight in real-time where decontamination procedures need to take place.

This competition has an initial budget of £500k for Phase 1. Additional funding is anticipated to be available for future phases of this competition.

Further details about the competition are in the summary document.

The competition will close at 1pm on 7 November 2018

Details on how to apply will be included in the full competition document which will be available soon. If you have any queries on this competition, please do contact us at accelerator@dstl.gov.uk or sign up for alerts.