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Royal Albert Hall Bill [HL]

Moved by

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts

After Clause 4, insert the following new Clause—

“Restrictions on powers to exclude members

(1) No power exercisable under section 4 has effect unless—

(a) it is approved by a sub-committee of the council of which the independent members of the council will form a majority; and

(b) an undertaking has been given by all members who are trustees that any tickets for seats received from the exercise of the power to alter the number of events from which seat holders are excluded must only be sold by the trustee or relatives of the trustee through a ticket return scheme operated or approved by the Corporation.

(2) In this section “relative” means in relation to any person any of the following―

(a) that person’s spouse;

(b) that person’s civil partner;

(c) any brother, sister, aunt or uncle of that person or of that person’s spouse or civil partner;

(d) any lineal descendant of that person or of a person mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c).

(3) In this section “trustee” means a member of the Council of the Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This is to ensure that any power to exclude members from the Hall can only be exercised when approved by a sub-committee of which the independent members of the council form a majority and that any tickets for seats received as a result of the changes proposed in the Bill may only be sold through a ticket return scheme. This is because of the potential conflict of interest of the charity’s trustees. In the absence of this provision those seat holders, who are also trustees and so control the Hall, are able to resell tickets made available to them through third party websites at above the face value of the tickets.