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Violent Crime Reduction Bill

My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Pendry, and my noble friend Lord Glentoran for raising this issue, and I know that very constructive talks have been going on with the Government. We all agree that this is an unintentional outcome, and I agree in particular with what was said by the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner of Worcester: the change we seek to achieve will not reduce public safety. That, I am sure, underpins everything that I hope will be agreed between the noble Lord, Lord Pendry, my noble friend and the Government. It has been said that there have been private agreements between police forces and sports authorities. At the moment people are operating, in a sense, in contravention of the law by not having to pay the extra sum but still trying to ensure appropriate levels of safety. That is something which cannot continue; the position has to be regularised. Indeed, I was interested to note that the noble Lord, Lord Pendry, specifically asked for assurances that stadia would be excluded, that they would not have to be caught within these provisions. I do not think I have yet heard a noble Lord refer to the position being faced by the golfing organisations. I will do so because I have a personal interest in golf and I have had contact with those who steward the major events of the European tour and the PGA in this country. I know that they have been in negotiations with the SIA with regard to how they should proceed. They have been taking every responsible step they can to ensure that there is no physical contact between the stewards who generally marshal the various holes in a golf competition and the public. They have been training their stewards more than normally is the case. They say, for example, ““Never use physical force when dealing with the crowd””, but, of course, anyone like me who has attended golf tournaments and observed how golf should be played—unlike how I play it—realises that there are times when stewards have to be in physical contact because of the way one is marshalling the crowd. At the moment, responsible sports organisations which are trying not to have a financial burden imposed on them are properly training their staff and maintaining public safety—but they cannot be expected to continue in contravention of a law that was not intended to cover them. So, while supporting everything that has been said, perhaps I may make a special plea to the Minister to assure me that golfing competitions will likewise be covered by any agreement that may be achieved as a result of the ongoing negotiations.