Sports grounds safety certificate - The Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975

The Secretary of State has designated, and may further designate, sports grounds as requiring a General Safety Certificate or Special Safety Certificate.

Under the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975, to operate a sports ground that holds more than 10,000 spectators, or a designated football ground that holds more than 5000 spectators, you will be required to hold a safety certificate.

A safety certificate may be either:

• a General Safety Certificate issued for the use of a sports ground for a specified activity, or activities, during an indefinite period;
• a Special Safety Certificate for the use of a sports ground for a specified activity or activities on a specified occasion or occasions;

How do I get permission?

The responsible qualified person for the ground is required to apply to the Council for a General Safety Certificate or Special Safety Certificate.

To be eligible for a safety certificate, you must be in a position to prevent contravention of the terms and conditions of a certificate.

You must comply with any terms or conditions attached to the certificate. The Council will consider if the applicant is in a position to prevent any breach of the terms and conditions of a certificate.

Applying for and the granting of a licence

Wirral Council must send a copy of the application for a safety certificate to Wirral’s Chief Police Officer and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. Each of these bodies must be consulted about the terms and conditions to be included in a certificate.

The General Safety Certificate may contain such conditions as the Council considers necessary or expedient to secure reasonable safety, e.g. management requirements, First Aid provisions, strength of structural elements etc. The Safety Certificate shall specify the maximum number of spectators to be admitted and include terms and conditions for such things including the number, size and position of entrances and exits, the means of escape, and the design of the crush barriers.

Application Process

To prepare a Safety Certificate the Council will:

• Request suitable drawings from the applicant.

Applicants must provide requested information and plans to Wirral Council within the time specified. If the applicant fails to provide the requested information within the specified time the application will be deemed to have been withdrawn

• Survey the ground in detail.
• Hold Safety Meetings with the Emergency Services to determine overall requirements.
• Consult with other expert/other interested bodies etc.
• Seek structural, electrical, mechanical and any other pertinent certification.
• Consult with ground management.
• Determine works conditions and numbers of spectators to be permitted into the ground.

Procedures

On the issue of the General Safety Certificate it is necessary to notify interested parties and advertise in accordance with the appropriate regulations.

After the issue of the General Safety Certificate, inspections will be made from time to time, on match days or during other sporting occasions, to ensure that the terms and conditions of the Certificate are suitable and appropriate for the use and to monitor the club's observance of the terms and conditions.

An annual inspection (and subsequent follow-up inspections) of the ground is also required by statute (Section 10B).

Special Safety Certificates are issued for activities which are not included in the General Safety Certificate and the process is similar to that for General Safety Certificates.

Advisory Groups/Safety Teams, comprising emergency services, the relevant clubs and their support organisations and the appropriate local authority officers, should be set up to deal with all safety issues which might affect the spectators. This group should meet regularly (e.g. monthly) under the Chairmanship of the local authority.

The holder of the certificate must notify the Council of any proposals to alter or extend the stadium or any of its installations, if they are likely to affect the safety of people at the stadium, before carrying out the proposals.

Apply online

• You may apply online for a sport ground safety certificate through Business Link

Fees

There is no fee.

Attachments to be submitted with your Application

None required for this application

Will Tacit Consent Apply

Tacit Consent does not apply due to Public Safety. Therefore you must wait to receive your application.

Enforcement

A person on summary conviction is liable to a fine if:

• spectators are admitted to a designated stadium after the date on which the designation order relating to it comes into operation but at a time when no application for a general safety certificate in respect of it has been made or such an application has been made but has been withdrawn, or is deemed to have been withdrawn; or
• when a general safety certificate is in operation in respect of a stadium spectators are admitted to the stadium on an occasion when it is used for an activity to which neither the general safety certificate nor a special safety certificate relates; or
• spectators are admitted to a designated stadium on an occasion when, following the surrender or cancellation of a safety certificate, no safety certificate is in operation in respect of that stadium ; or
• any term or condition of a safety certificate is contravened; or
• spectators are admitted to a sports ground in contravention of an order under section 10, any responsible person and, if a safety certificate is in operation, the holder of the certificate, shall be guilty of an offence.

“ responsible person ” means a person who is concerned in the management of the stadium or other sports ground in question or the organisation of any activity taking place there at the time when an offence is alleged to have been committed.

A person guilty of an offence above shall be liable:

• on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than £400;or
• on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine or to both.

Certificate transfers/amendments

If an application is made to transfer a certificate Wirral Council must determine if the person to whom the certificate is to be transferred, would qualify for the issue of a certificate.

The applicant may be the current holder of the certificate or the person to whom the certificate is to be transferred. Wirral Council must send a copy of a transfer application to, and consult with, the Chief Police Officer for Wirral, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority and the building authority about any amendment, replacement or transfer of certificates.

• To make amendments to an existing certificate you may apply online here through Business Link

Appeals

If you feel your application has been unreasonably withheld or you are in disagreement with the conditions attached with the licence please contact Streetscene in the first instance. Alternatively you may appeal through the Magistrates Court.