Member

Amendment 147, from my noble friend Lord Bassam of Brighton, and Amendment 137, from my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton, are contingent on each other. The Government recognise the intent behind the amendments to ensure that football continues to be played in a club’s home ground. Much of this is delivered through duties on regulated clubs, including home ground protections, to safeguard against reckless sales or ill-thought-out relocations. However, clubs may not own their home ground, and would therefore need the agreement of their landlord to meet this additional licensing requirement. This amendment would place a requirement on clubs to guarantee something that may not be within their control, as well as duplicating the pre-existing league home ground requirements. This legislation is not the appropriate place to amend property law, nor is it in scope to do so.