Ministers announced in August 2006 that all in house stewards at sports grounds with a safety certificate were to be removed from the remit of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. This was to be achieved by using the Violent Crime Reduction Bill to amend the 2001 Act.
Section 63 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, which came into effect on 8 November 2006, amends section 4 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (exemptions from licensing requirements) to exempt certain persons from the licensing requirement under that Act.
It exempts from the licensing requirement of the 2001 Act all in-house staff who carry out licensable conduct within the meaning of section 3 of that Act on any part of their home ground, if it is a premises covered by a safety certificate under either the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 or the Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Act 1987 and if the conduct is carried out in connection with the use of those premises for which that safety certificate has effect. It also exempts from the licensing requirement under the 2001 Act in-house staff who accompany their club to other sports grounds where both the home ground and the sports ground being visited are covered by a safety certificate under the safety at sports grounds legislation and where the conduct is carried out in connection with the use of the host premises for purposes for which its safety certificate has effect.
The exemption covers all in-house staff working on the specified premises and exempts them from the licensing requirement in respect of all types of licensable conduct within the meaning of section 3 of the 2001 Act. This includes those who supervise contracted staff and those who are themselves provided by their employer to a third party. It does
not cover contracted staff who undertake licensable conduct in premises covered by the safety at sports grounds legislation or in-house staff who undertake licensable activity in licensed premises that are not covered by the safety at sports grounds legislation. These people will still need to be licensed under the 2001 Act.
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