UEFA European Championship Bill: BRIA

Consultation

Delivery Partners

The Scottish Government has consulted delivery partners on the legislative proposals, including the Local Organising Committee (LOC) which is made up of the Scottish Football Association, the Scottish Ministers, Glasgow City Council, Hampden Park Limited, VisitScotland and Police Scotland. The proposals have also been discussed with UEFA and Glasgow Life. These views helped to shape the legislation. In particular this engagement informed the development of the event zones and the necessary periods of restrictions.

Public Consultation

The requirement for the Act and regulations arose reasonably recently and so there has not been sufficient time for a full public consultation to be held. Initially the LOC had sought to deliver the required protections without developing new legislation. However, during detailed consideration and discussions with UEFA about how to deliver the event it became clear that there were some areas where strengthening commercial rights protection would be required, including on street trading and advertising. It was also decided that in addition to the terms and conditions of ticket sales, stronger enforcement powers were required through legislation for ticket touting.

An information session was held at Hampden Park in November 2019 to discuss the event, including the legislation. Invitations were issued to 2,333 businesses and residents within the proposed Hampden Park zone who may be affected by the Championship.

Parliament

The Act was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament on 16 December 2019. During the Act's parliamentary process there was general support for the proposals in relation to ticket touting, street trading and advertising. There were some concerns raised about the extent of enforcement powers and safeguards in place in relation to these and the Scottish Government brought forward a number of amendments to respond to these.

The Scottish Government shared illustrative regulations with the Scottish Parliament on 17 October 2019, in order to provide an indication of how powers in the Act were expected to be used^[4]. While no written feedback was received on the content of the illustrative regulations, the Scottish Government has taken on board feedback from Parliament which was received during the Parliamentary process for the primary legislation, including ensuring that busking is excepted from the street trading restrictions. These illustrative regulations have been discussed with a range of stakeholders (see Business section below).

Business

As street trading is governed by the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and administered by local authorities, information on the number of street trading (business) licences held within the event zones has been gathered directly from Glasgow City Council to inform the data analysis for this Business Regulatory Impact Assessment.

There are no street trading licences currently in place for the proposed George Square and Merchant City event zones. As of 28 August 2019, Glasgow City Council has indicated that there are currently 107 street traders (113 licences) that will be affected by the proposed Hampden Park zone. Some of these traders have mobile licences, which allow them to trade in a number of parts of Glasgow, whereas some have fixed licences that allow them to trade in one particular location (called a stance). There are also currently 23 Pedlars licences, issued by Police Scotland, in force for the Greater Glasgow Division, some of whom work in the Championship zones.

Glasgow Life has identified advertising firms and media owners in Glasgow, though not all have media sites in the proposed zones. These are: Chris Stewart Group, Drum Development, Poster Plus, Insite Poster Properties Ltd, Build Hollywood T/a Jack Arts Scotland, The Poster Association, Clear Channel, Primesight, Exterion, JCDecaux, Infinity, Blow Up and Ocean.

Glasgow Life has also indicated that as at December 2019, there are 29 digital and inlink sites that are either in the event zones or in close proximity to them (Merchant City and George Square only, there are none for Hampden Park). These are owned by Clear Channel, Global, and JCDecaux.

The Scottish Government wishes to learn from previous experience from the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Key feedback from the business engagement during the BRIA process for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (Scotland) Act 2008 wasthat it would be important that businesses were well informed about the restrictions. For the Commonwealth Games this was done through publication of guidance which translated the legislation into an easy to follow format suitable for all businesses that may be affected.

When developing the legislation, the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council arranged two informal drop in sessions in August 2019. Businesses, street traders and media owners that could potentially be affected by the introduction of the Act and associated regulations were invited. Other organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, the Scottish Retail Consortium, and Greater Glasgow Hoteliers Association were also invited.

The meetings were intended to provide the businesses with details about the proposed legislation and hear the views of those who could be affected so that this could help to inform the development of the legislation. Telephone calls took place with street traders and other businesses that wanted to understand the proposals but who could not attend in person.

In addition to the drop in sessions and phone calls, Scottish Government officials attended the proposed Hampden event zone before a football match in order to speak to street traders about the legislation. From its engagement, the Scottish Government understands that most of these traders also trade in other parts of Glasgow (for example at Celtic Park and Ibrox Stadium). Some indicated that they would trade in other parts of Scotland (such as at Murrayfield, Edinburgh), while one indicated that they would trade in other parts of the UK, including London.

The Scottish Government has also engaged directly with the Advertising Association, the Scottish Police Federation, the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, the Scottish Football Supporters Association, Supporters Direct Scotland and Mount Florida Community Council during the Act's Parliamentary process, including sharing illustrative regulations. This has helped to inform policy development and is expected to assist with awareness raising about the restrictions.

Street traders – key matters raised

Other opportunities to trade: A number of the traders understood that there were requirements to hold a major event that could include restrictions on trading around the Championship venue. Almost all traders were interested in what alternative trading arrangements would be offered by Glasgow City Council (as provided for in the Act), including whether there might be scope to trade near, or in, the city centre. Some were also interested in what scope there was to become a UEFA approved partner (the Scottish Government provided appropriate contact details so that this could be discussed with UEFA directly) although others did not think that this would be something that would be suitable for them.

Size of the event zone: Some of the traders were concerned about the size of the Hampden Park event zone, which is based on the Commonwealth Games event zone, although others thought that it was reasonable to use the 2014 event zone.

Impact on small traders to the benefit of larger companies: This concern was raised by two of the traders. To help to mitigate the impact of the restrictions on street traders the Act provides that Glasgow City Council must offer alternative trading arrangements during the time the event zone is in operation. One trader noted that there was likely to be quite a lot of competition between existing traders to get another location, given the numbers likely to be affected. The temporary licence fee that would usually be associated with applying for a temporary trading licence (£62) will be waived by the Council and the Council will prioritise processing these applications. Two traders asked about whether it would be possible to trade in the city centre zones instead. Traders affected by the proposed event zones will be advised to register on Public Contracts Scotland to be notified of tender opportunities, although there is no guarantee that they would be successful.

Other businesses – key matters raised

Road closures: A number of businesses were concerned about road closures, restrictions on parking and what was planned in terms of public transport given the number of people that would be in the city centre and around Hampden Park. These matters are not included in the Act and regulations but form part of wider planning for delivery of the event. Further information is available on the Get Ready Glasgow website.^[5]

Costs to businesses: Some concerns were raised about any costs to businesses of covering or removing advertising. The Scottish Government considers that these costs are likely to be small and would be more than offset by the business opportunity the Championship represents. A number of exceptions to the advertising restrictions are included in the regulations. This will reduce any potential costs for businesses by permitting certain advertising. For example, advertising on buses and taxis will be permitted, as will advertising where there is an existing contract in place that cannot be cancelled without a penalty, and advertising permitted under the Town and Country planning regulations. In addition, the dates of operation of the zones, in particular for the Merchant City, have been minimised in order to reduce the impact on businesses.

UEFA has indicated its intention to provide assistance to local businesses (including providing options for branding for street furniture) where businesses are impacted by the legislation and will seek to engage with businesses directly when it undertakes site visits early in 2020.

Newspapers: The Advertising Associationraised a query about advertising supplements with newspapers. The Scottish Government has clarified wording in the regulations based on this feedback to ensure that it is clear that it is only advertising supplements that are intended to act as ambush marketing of the event that are not permitted.

Awareness raising: Some suggested the need for good communication about the restrictions in a range of formats so businesses knew what was and was not permitted. This has been considered during development of the Act. A duty has been placed on Glasgow City Council to publish guidance on the advertising and trading restrictions. This will be available in hard copy as well as online. It is also the intention to publicise the event zones, for example in local newspapers and other media, as appropriate, to ensure that those affected are aware of the restrictions.

Overall, most of the businesses that attended the drop-in sessions or that the Scottish Government has engaged with through other means indicated that what was proposed on advertising and street trading was reasonable and would be likely to have a minimal impact on their day to day business.