Member

The threshold of 800 people is right, because it will mean that venues like Brierley Hill Civic will not get dragged into having to deal with onerous burdens. However, clause 32 could see such venues facing burdens, even in a hypothetical situation, that they are ill-equipped to carry out. I am worried about the impact those measures could have on decisions made by venues run by the voluntary sector, such as Brierley Hill Civic, about potentially investing to expand capacity to 500 or more. Such venues may think that a future Secretary of State could use the powers in clause 32 to lower the thresholds, so that such investments, at the same time as costing money, would lead to additional burdens. The Minister for Security said that extensive consultations had, quite rightly, been undertaken to arrive at the figure of 800 people, but if that figure were lowered, it would drag in organisations like Dudley CVS, which would be dangerous.