Councils say that they want a level playing field – and that sports clubs should pay the estimated £1.1m nationally for their ground safety certification.
The LGA (Local Government Association) wants the Government to amend the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and linked regulations from 1987 which set out what councils can charge for, as part of the legislation to introduce a new football regulator. The LGA says councils are paying an average cost of £5,869 per sports ground.
Councils issue a safety certificate which allows a sports ground to open, as big as Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon Tennis Club, most notably for the 92 English Premier League and English Football League clubs with a capacity of 5,000-plus. A certificate covers the structural integrity of the stadium, provisions for means of escape, fire precautions and emergency services co-ordination; provision of suitable management for stewarding, crowd control, match safety arrangements, evacuation procedures and contingency plans.
Heather Kidd, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Councils want to work with football and other sports clubs to ensure they have all the necessary ground safety measures in place.
“Football and sport have changed massively since 1975 when Kevin Keegan was footballer of the year and Brentford [pictured] were in the Fourth Division. The current charging regulations are outdated and in need of reform. It is perverse that with the revenue in some sports, particularly football, that clubs are not meeting the costs of this vital work, unlike other businesses councils regulate, which rightly pick up the costs of regulation through the licence fees they pay.
“Some of our top clubs are paying their players hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, while at the same time councils face significant financial pressures to provide vital local services, and this is an extra cost they shouldn’t have to pick up.
“It is only fair that clubs pay the fees involved to cover the full cost of issuing safety certification, rather than for this to fall to the taxpayer.
“While these fees would not be huge, we do recognise this might be a challenging additional cost for some smaller clubs also struggling financially. However, there is enough collective wealth within the game to ensure that clubs, rather than taxpayers, should fund this.”
Background
The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) is the safety regulator for football grounds in England and Wales, which reported in its accounts for 2022-23 a spend of £1.7m and income generated of £366,000. It’s funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; it issues licences to the 92 Premier League and English Football League grounds, Wembley and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to allow them to permit spectators to watch matches; and oversee local authorities in their duties to sports grounds safety.
