Stewarding and SIA licence

The exemption from licensing applies to in-house employees when carrying out duties in connection with their employer’s use of a certified sports ground or certified sports stand for purposes for which its safety certificate has effect.

Employees of a visiting team to such premises are also exempt provided that the visiting team has a certified sports ground or stand. For a more precise description of the exemption see Section 4(6) to 4(12) of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 as amended and the explanatory notes to section 63 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 below.

Private Security Industry Act 2001

Section 4(6) – A relevant employee who engages in licensable conduct shall not be guilty of an offence under section 3 in respect of that conduct if it is carried out in connection with the use of a certified sports ground or certified sports stand for purposes for which its safety certificate has effect.

Section 4(12) – In this section—

“certified sports ground” means a sports ground in respect of which a safety certificate is in force;
“certified sports stand” means a sports stand in respect of which a safety certificate is in force;
“company”, “holding company” and “subsidiary” have the same meanings as in [F2 section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006] ;
“group”, in relation to a company, means a holding company and all of its subsidiaries;
“safety certificate”, “general safety certificate” and “special safety certificate”—

(a) in relation to a sports ground, have the same meanings as in the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 (see sections 1(4) and 17(1) of that Act); and

(b) in relation to a sports stand, have the same meanings as in Part 3 of the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 (see section 26(2) and (11) of that Act);

“sports ground” has the same meaning as in that Act of 1975 (see section 17(1) of that Act);
“sports stand” means a stand within the meaning of Part 3 of that Act of 1987 (see section 26(11) of that Act);
“visiting team”, in relation to a certified sports ground (“the home ground”) or a certified sports stand contained in any premises (“the home premises”) means a team which uses as its base, or as one of its bases, any premises which are either—

(a) a certified sports ground which is not the home ground (“the visitors’ ground”); or

(b) premises which are not the home premises and which contain a certified sports stand (“the visitors’ premises”);

“visitors’ ground” and “visitors’ premises”, in relation to a visiting team, have the meanings given by the previous definition.]

Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006

Section 63 Removal of sports grounds etc. from private security industry regulation

In section 4 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (c. 12) (exemptions from licensing requirement) after subsection (5) insert—

“(6)A relevant employee who engages in licensable conduct shall not be guilty of an offence under section 3 in respect of that conduct if it is carried out in connection with the use of a certified sports ground or certified sports stand for purposes for which its safety certificate has effect.

(7)An employee for a visiting team who engages in licensable conduct shall not be guilty of an offence under section 3 in respect of that conduct if—

(a)it is carried out in connection with the use of a certified sports ground or certified sports stand for purposes for which its safety certificate has effect; and

(b)that visiting team is involved in the activities for which the ground is being used, or which the stand is being used to view.

(8)In subsection (7) a reference to a person being an employee for a visiting team is a reference to his being a relevant employee in relation to the visitors’ ground, or in relation to a certified sports stand contained in the visitors’ premises.

(9)In this section “a relevant employee”, in relation to a certified sports ground or certified sports stand, means a person employed by—

(a)the holder of its safety certificate;

(b)a person who manages the ground or stand or occupies the premises where it is or owns an interest in those premises;

(c)a company which is in the same group as a company falling within paragraph (b).

(10)In this section a reference to the use of a certified sports ground for purposes for which the safety certificate has effect is a reference to—

(a)the use of the ground for activities specified in a general safety certificate in force in respect of the use of that ground; or

(b)the use of the ground, on an occasion specified in a special safety certificate which is so in force, for activities specified in that certificate.

(11)In this section a reference to the use of a certified sports stand for purposes for which the safety certificate has effect is a reference to—

(a)the use of the stand for viewing activities specified in a general safety certificate in force in respect of the use of that stand; or

(b)the use of the stand, on an occasion specified in a special safety certificate which is so in force, for viewing activities specified in that certificate.

(12)In this section—

“certified sports ground” means a sports ground in respect of which a safety certificate is in force;
“certified sports stand” means a sports stand in respect of which a safety certificate is in force;
“company”, “holding company” and “subsidiary” have the same meanings as in section 736 of the Companies Act 1985 (c. 6);
“group”, in relation to a company, means a holding company and all of its subsidiaries;
“safety certificate”, “general safety certificate” and “special safety certificate”—

(a) in relation to a sports ground, have the same meanings as in the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 (see sections 1(4) and 17(1) of that Act); and

(b) in relation to a sports stand, have the same meanings as in Part 3 of the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 (see section 26(2) and (11) of that Act);

“sports ground” has the same meaning as in that Act of 1975 (see section 17(1) of that Act);
“sports stand” means a stand within the meaning of Part 3 of that Act of 1987 (see section 26(11) of that Act);
“visiting team”, in relation to a certified sports ground (“the home ground”) or a certified sports stand contained in any premises (“the home premises”) means a team which uses as its base, or as one of its bases, any premises which are either—

(a) a certified sports ground which is not the home ground (“the visitors’ ground”); or

(b) premises which are not the home premises and which contain a certified sports stand (“the visitors’ premises”);

“visitors’ ground” and “visitors’ premises”, in relation to a visiting team, have the meanings given by the previous definition.”