Venue hire guidance
Owning and managing a venue for hire comes with considerable responsibility. This includes making sure that your venue is not used by extremists to spread their message of hatred and division.
There are individuals and groups that advocate or promote extreme views including: hatred, divisions, and the use of violence. The national Prevent Duty places a mandatory requirement that Gateshead Council ensure that publicly owned venues and resources do not provide a platform for extremists and are not used to disseminate extremist views. These speakers may also have the potential to create community tension, media attention, and damage the reputation of the Council. There are many varied ideologies that motivate people and groups and Gateshead Council has to take care to find a balance that takes account of the right to free speech, human rights and equality.
To help you prevent this happening at your venue, we've produced guidance for booking / venue hire managers. This guidance is not a definitive list but should be followed, along with your venue hire policy and risk assessment, to prevent the risk of undesirable bookings in accordance with the Prevent Duty (Section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015).
Venue Hire Risk Assessment (PDF, 103 KB)
About responsible event booking
Hateful extremists seek to promote hatred and division in order to exploit vulnerable people into being involved in, or supporting, acts of terrorism. The promotion of hateful propaganda does not just happen online. Extremist groups are known to have exploited venues in order to influence and radicalise others into participating in, or supporting, terrorism.
If you provide a venue for events or conferences, it is important that you're aware of, and consider the purpose of, events taking place in your venue. You should consider whether the event raises concerns about radicalisation and/ or terrorism.
This guidance will help you to take a responsible and appropriate approach to event bookings.
If followed correctly, it can help you to protect your venue and vulnerable people from being exploited, while also protecting the reputation of your organisation.
This assessment will help you to consider the potential for any risks that need to be managed when taking venue bookings for events and provides a starting point to identify and address concerns where you're unsure about an organisation, group or individuals.
Notes about the guidance
This guidance is designed to support booking/ venue hire managers when taking bookings for events or speakers. It will help you to consider the potential for any risks which need to be managed before you agree to an organisation or individual booking your venue and provides a starting point to identify and address concerns where you're unsure about an organisation, group or individuals.
The decision about who at your venue should complete the guidance document and process is your responsibility. This guidance will not apply to all events your venue hosts/ facilitates but it provides a useful framework for venue managers/ booking managers to assess the risks if you have concerns or are unsure about an individual or group's intention to use your venue.
It is your responsibility to decide when to complete this document. We advise that you complete the decision-making process in a timely manner so you can use the information you've gathered to make an informed decision about whether or not to accept the booking.
This guidance document should be used alongside your existing policies and procedures for booking events and speakers. Make sure that you store any information in line with your organisation's records management policy and data protection arrangements.
The decisions about whether to accept a booking and whether to take any further action is your responsibility. To allow for fair and transparent decision-making, you should gather basic information to help make a decision about allowing a booking.
Venue Hire Risk Assessment (PDF, 103 KB)
Completing the Venue Hire Risk Assessment
ASK: what's planned and who's planning it?
who is the individual or organisation booking the event? Ask for their name and any associated names they operate under. Ask for their address and a phone number. Get details of the individual or organisation's website and associated websites
what is the event planned? Theme, name of the event, agenda, content, speakers, expected audience numbers and demographics, details of how the event will be promoted (ask for copies of flyers/posters etc), is the event open to the public or ticket only
has the organisation/individual read and agreed to your venue policy? Do they implement a policy that promotes equality and diversity and challenges all forms of discrimination?
CHECK: undertake due diligence to confirm what you've been told and find out more
review the publicly available information of those individuals/organisations making the booking and the speakers by viewing their websites, articles, blogs or speeches, considering what other people are saying about them
ask for a reference from a venue provider previously used by the individual/organisation
make sure the booking isn't for a banned organisation by checking the UK list of proscribed organisations
If the booking is for a charity, check the charity number of the organisation with the Charity commission
DECIDE: do you let the event go ahead?
use the information collected to inform your decision. If you have any concerns about the booking, speak to your organisation's Prevent lead or contact your local Counter Terrorism security advisor for further support and advice
Venue Hire Risk Assessment (PDF, 103 KB)
Things to consider when taking bookings
- if the booking is being arranged by an event management or another company, make sure you know who their client is
- be wary of individuals only giving mobile numbers
- if enquiries are made about internet use and bandwidth, investigate whether any speakers are participating in the event remotely
- be wary of individuals/organisations making large cash payments
- ensure that in the event of reputational risk to your organisation, you have the ability to withdraw from the contract
Tips for conducting research online
- complete a thorough check on the individuals and organisations involved by viewing their website(s) and looking at what other people are saying about them (articles/blogs etc). Where possible use primary evidence such as an organisation's manifesto or a person speaking on YouTube
- when you are looking at a website, check if it's being kept up to date
- if you are unsure about an organisation, check if it has a contact telephone number and business address
- under GDPR (UK data protection), any searches you complete must be managed appropriately and sensitively ensuring data sharing agreements are adhered to
Making and recording your decision
British values
When making your decision, make sure that the proposed event is in line with British values.
We advise that your venue does not permit events which:
- call for the death of British Armed Forces
- oppose fundamental British values including:
- democracy
- the rule of law
- individual liberty
- mutual respect
- tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
- risk drawing people into terrorism
- are otherwise unlawful
The decision - refusing the booking
Once you've made a decision and documented it appropriately (according to your venue's record-keeping procedure), you should communicate it clearly to the person or group who made the booking, including the reasons why. You should be transparent, and be clear about your venue's right to refuse or cancel any booking. If individuals or groups have been dishonest with the information they provided when booking, you should mention this.
The decision - accepting the booking
Once you've made and documented the decision to accept the booking, you should inform the person or group who made the booking. You should also remind them of their responsibilities, including making sure the event is compliant with British values (as described above). You should remind the person or group that breaching these conditions, or any conditions in the venue hire agreement or health and safety requirements could lead to the event being cancelled.
If you have concerns about health and safety for a potential event, you can get advice from the Health and Safety Executive.
Considerations for accepting a booking
When you accept a booking which you've assessed as medium risk, you may want to impose additional conditions on the person or group holding the event, to reduce risk.
You may wish to consider:
- making an event/activity open to the public giving clear guidelines on the language to be used, or topics to be discussed, for example not allowing content which promotes hatred and division
- reserving the right to attend or send in attendance an independent observer or chairperson to the event (on behalf of the venue owner), who shall have the authority to suspend or cancel the event if necessary
- restricting the sale of alcohol or other products on the premises
- requesting copies of the presenter's / speaker's material, for example presentations or speeches, before the event, to be sure they're compliant with British values
- providing information about items prohibited at the venue, including banners, flags, leaflets, or placards
- requesting that an event is recorded in case of future complaint
Suggested wording for venue hire policy
In the event where we feel there is reputational risk to our organisation, we have the ability to withdraw from the contract and cancel the booking of the event.
The Hirer acknowledges that the (name of organisation) has a duty under Section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 in the exercise of its functions to have "due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism" (the "Prevent Duty"). The Hirer shall ensure that it uses (venue name) in such a way as to satisfy the Prevent Duty.
- The Hirer must ensure that the venue is not used by any groups or speakers in support of any extremist ideology
Contact details
If you need advice and support contact:
Gateshead Council Community Safety Team via Email
Counter Terrorism Police North East website
Call: 101 (or in an emergency 999)