Council leader John Cotton is asked if it was appropriate that two councillors, who campaigned for the match to not go ahead, to have sat on the safety advisory group.

"The fact these councillors are campaigning for it not to happen – is that a breach of principles?" the committee asked.

It was the responsibility of individual councillors to declare interests or remove themselves from positions, Cotton said.

Richard Brooks said there was no declared interest made by two councillors present at the first two SAG meetings which was a mistake.

This was rectified at the third SAG meeting.

Birmingham City Council faced questions over its minuting of the SAG meetings and the lack of police information involved in them.

Richard Brooks, city operations director, refuted claims that the minutes may show bias instead saying they may be incomplete.

"It was our best attempt to capture what was in the meeting," he said.

And leaderJohn Cotton who is not a member of the safety advisory group, said he had concerns over "some of the information" that was placed in front of it.

"But I am concerned given what I've heard here this afternoon," he said.

"That (safety advisory) group can only work on the basis of candor and confidence of the material that's placed before it," he said.

"I have serious questions that I would like to see addressed as a result of this inquiry."

The public hearing of the committee meeting is now over.

West Midlands Police chiefs have just faced almost two hours of questioning by the Home Select Committee.

They went over a lot of previously covered ground with police reiterating the decision to ban fans of the Israeli club from attending the game with Aston Villa was due to safety issues.

There's been questions as to the reliability of evidence police presented from their talks with Dutch counnterparts in Amsterdam following a Maccabi Tel Aviv match there.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford told the Home Affairs Select Committee he did not doubt the "integrity" of his officers.

The force pointed to violent clashes and hate crime offences during the 2024 Europa League as part of its justification.

Asked by MPs if the number of Dutch police officers deployed to the fixture in Amsterdam had been "made up", he said: "No, that's not right. That's really not fair.

The Home Affairs select committee are now questioning Birmingham City Council bosses.

Leader John Cotton is joined by Richard Brooks, Executive Director of City Operations and Anthony Cox, Director of Law and Governance.

We won't be providing regular text updates, but you can watch the session live at the top of the page.

There's a short break before the panel reconvenes to interview the leaders of Birmingham City Council.

Council leader John Cotton, Executive Director of City Operations Richard Brooks and Anthony Cox, Director of Law and Governance are the next to appear.

They may be asked if meetings of the Safety Advisory Group were recorded after the issue came up during the police questioning.

Today's Home Affairs select committee begins with Chief Constable Craig Gifford taking his seat in front of MPs.

He's joined by match commander and Assistant Chief Constable Mike O'Hara, Chief Inspector Mick Wilkinson and Chief Constable Mark Roberts, national lead for football policing and UK Football Policing Unit.

We won't be providing regular text updates, but you can watch the session live at the top of the page.

A number of senior police and council figures are set to appear before MPs this afternoon.

On the policing side at 14:30 GMT:

• Craig Guildford, Chief Constable at West Midlands Police
• Mike O’Hara, Assistant Chief Constable at West Midlands Police
• Mick Wilkinson, Chief Inspector at West Midlands Police
• Chief Constable Mark Roberts, National Lead for Football Policing at UK Football Policing Unit

Image source, PA Media

From Birmingham City Council at 16:00

• Councillor John Cotton, leader
• Richard Brooks, Executive Director of City Operations
• Anthony Cox, Director of Law and Governance

The row over why away fans were banned has been ongoing since October, when Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group, which includes the council, the club and police, made the decision because of what it said were safety concerns.

West Midlands Police have repeatedly mentioned the unrest surrounding a Maccabi match in Amsterdam earlier in November, as part of the justification for the ban.

They claimed 500-600 Maccabi fans had targeted Muslim communities the night before the Amsterdam fixture, saying there had been "serious assaults including throwing random members of the public" into a river.

They also claimed 5,000 officers were needed to deal with the unrest in Amsterdam, after previously saying that the figure was 1,200.

Dutch police and watchdogs have denied WMP's account of that match.

The leaders of West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council are due to appear before MPs over a decision not to allow Israeli football fans to attend a match in Birmingham last year.

The decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from a Europa League match against Aston Villa in November was criticised by the prime minister and others, some of whom suggested it amounted to antisemitism. The match went ahead without any away fans amid a huge policing operation outside the ground.

Image source, Getty Images

The decision was made by Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group, who deemed the match a "high risk" because of unrest during previous Maccabi matches.

BBC News has obtained a letter from the Dutch police inspectorate in December, which appears to contradict claims made by West Midlands Police about Maccabi fans' previous behaviour, which were used to justify the ban.