Purpose

Purpose
To ensure that the Council can continue to discharge its statutory functions for spectator safety at designated sports grounds and regulated stands under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987.

Background and reason for the decision
The Council must maintain clear and resilient officer arrangements for the certification, inspection and enforcement of spectator safety. This decision formally delegates the relevant functions to the officers holding the posts listed below, so that the statutory functions can be exercised without avoidable delay and remain effective if postholders change.

Delegated functions

Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975
• Issue, amend, replace, transfer, withdraw and enforce General Safety Certificates for sports grounds designated by the Secretary of State.
• Exercise the Council's inspection, monitoring and enforcement functions under the Act, including entry and inspection at reasonable times.
• Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987
• Issue, amend, replace, cancel and enforce Safety Certificates for regulated stands.
• Exercise the Council's inspection, monitoring and enforcement functions under the Act.

Scope of the delegation
The delegation includes authority to:
• set the permitted capacity of a designated sports ground or regulated stand;
• impose any terms and conditions considered necessary or expedient to secure the reasonable safety of spectators;
• monitor compliance with safety certificate conditions; and
• serve prohibition notices restricting or prohibiting spectator admission where the Council considers that spectators face a serious risk.

Decision

In accordance with section 2.35.4 of the Council's Constitution, the Director of Place Management delegates the functions set out below to the officers holding the following posts:

• Service Manager - Public Protection
• Service Manager - Emergency Management, Events, Markets and Film Office
• Manager - Building Control and Land Charges

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - Approve the delegation. This provides clear authority and operational resilience for the Council's statutory sports ground safety functions.
Option 2 - Do not approve the delegation. This would leave less resilient arrangements and could delay certification or enforcement activity when the existing authorised officer is unavailable.