Sports Grounds Safety Authority Bill

Lord Addington Excerpts

Friday 13th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Addington]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, has gone through the Bill very clearly and concisely, and there is not much that remains to be said about it—so I shall not take long.

The basic principle behind the Bill is that we have a successful body that was born out of a series of tragedies. It has worked fairly well, addressed problems and gained a reputation for doing what it does well. However, it was designed only for football, which is the dominant spectator sport in our society. There has been a slight growth and diversification in the spectator base, which has probably been provided by the professionalisation of rugby union. However, the fact is that football remains the dominant spectator sport.

The Bill takes the best practice from the main area and passes it out to other areas. I can see no objection to it. There may well be one, but it has not occurred to me. Earlier on, the noble Lord was kind enough to show me what he was going to say. When I asked questions of him then, I could discover no reason why the Bill should be changed. I recommend that we take the Bill on board roughly as it is, if not totally as it is—the noble Lord nods, suggesting that the second option would be preferable—and put it through the House. To be honest, I really cannot see how there can be any problem with the Bill. It may not be absolutely perfect, but it is a damn sight closer to that than most pieces of legislation that come before this House.