Sports clubs should shoulder full cost of ground safety certification, not councils says the Local Government Association.
Posted: Mon, 14 Aug 2023 09:00
The Government should blow the full-time whistle on outdated charging regulations that mean the local taxpayer is having to foot the £1 million annual bill for sports clubs to have ground safety certification.
Councils are responsible for sports ground safety certification for the 92 English Premier League and English Football League clubs, and other sports clubs, but current laws dating back to 1975 limit how much they can charge them.
It means that councils, and therefore the local taxpayer, are having to pick up the remainder of any costs.
New research by the LGA estimates this to amount to over £1.1 million per year, with councils paying an average cost of £5,869 per sports ground to oversee sports safety– a large number of which will be football stadia.
Initial evidence also indicates that the costs to councils may be higher for football stadia than for other sports grounds – in some cases over £20,000 per ground.
Ahead of the Premier League returning this evening, the LGA said given pressures on budgets and staff time, clubs – many of which are extremely wealthy – should pay the fees to cover the cost of the work councils do.
Other council regulated businesses are responsible for covering their costs of maintenance and safety checks of their grounds, so is this exemption fair for sports clubs? To read more in depth what the LGA had to say on the matter follow the link below:
More information: https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/sports-clubs-should-shoulder-full-cost-ground-safety-certification-not-councils-lga