Ticketing for UK councils.
This guide explains, in plain English, how UK councils put on ticketed events and what to get right: free events and fees, the accessibility duty, how to buy software without over-engineering the procurement, VAT, and data protection. It is general information for UK councils, not legal, tax, procurement, accessibility, or data protection advice, and you should not rely on it as a substitute for advice specific to your council. The rules change often, this guide may be out of date or incomplete, and the right answer depends on your council's tier, its constitution, and what it is running. Verify anything that matters against the primary sources, take your own professional advice before acting, and see the full disclaimer at the end of this guide.
Last updated 15 June 2026.
General information only, not advice, and provided without warranty as to accuracy, completeness, or currency. This reflects our understanding at the time of writing, checked against gov.uk, legislation.gov.uk, HMRC, and ICO guidance, but UK accessibility, procurement, tax, and data protection rules change often and this page may now be out of date. Do not rely on it: verify the position against the primary sources, and take advice from your monitoring officer, Section 151 officer, data protection officer, or the relevant regulator before acting. See the full disclaimer at the end of this guide.
Two tiers of council, two very different buyers.
A principal authority is a larger organisation with a procurement function, a monitoring officer, a Section 151 finance officer, and a data protection officer, often running a civic theatre, a museum, and a full events programme. The compliance points below apply to both tiers, but they land harder, and more formally, on a principal authority. Where the practical answer differs, this guide says so.
What councils run, and how it is paid for.
The general power of competence and the precept
Eligible town and parish councils hold a general power of competence under the Localism Act 2011, which lets them do anything an individual generally may do, including running community events. Eligibility depends on prescribed conditions about elected councillors and a qualified clerk. Town and parish councils are funded mainly through the precept, an amount added to council tax bills and collected on the council's behalf by the billing authority under the Local Government Finance Act 1992, plus any income they raise themselves. That funding model is exactly why fees on free events and the value-for-money test matter so much: the money is the residents' council tax, and it is accounted for in public.
- General power of competence (Localism Act 2011) for eligible parish and town councils
- Funded mainly through the precept (Local Government Finance Act 1992) plus own income
- Spending is accountable to residents, internal controls, and external audit
- Most civic events are free to attend, which changes what good ticketing looks like
Free events and the per-reservation fee trap.
Many ticketing platforms charge a fee on every ticket, including free ones and reservations. Issue three hundred free reserved places for a war memorial service on a platform that charges, say, 50p a reservation, and the council has spent £150 on an event that took no income at all. Across a year of free civic events that adds up to a line the finance committee will, rightly, ask about. The fix is simple: check, before you choose a platform, whether it charges on free tickets and reservations. Some do not. For the wider picture on how platforms charge, see how UK ticketing fees actually work.
Accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA and your accessibility statement.
The duty that catches councils out most
Under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, public sector bodies, including local authorities, must make their websites and apps accessible and publish an accessibility statement. Following an amendment in October 2022, the regulations reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as amended from time to time, so the required standard tracks newer versions automatically, and gov.uk now states it as WCAG 2.2 to level AA. The duty applies on the face of the regulations to town and parish councils as well as principal authorities, though a very small council facing disproportionate burden can document a case-by-case assessment rather than assume an automatic exemption.
- Meet WCAG 2.2 AA and publish an accessibility statement, reviewed regularly
- The regulations reference WCAG as amended from time to time; gov.uk currently states WCAG 2.2 AA
- Applies to local authorities, including town and parish councils, on the face of the regulations
- Disproportionate burden is a documented assessment, not an automatic exemption
Outsourcing does not move the accessibility duty.
What that means in practice: make accessibility part of the request for quotation, build accessibility into the contract and the evaluation, and ask any platform, including the one you are reading about, for its accessibility information. A supplier is not, as a matter of law, required to publish its own accessibility statement, so do not assume the absence of one is a breach by the supplier. But the council does need to be able to evidence that its public-facing booking journey meets the standard, so gather that evidence before you commit, not after.
Procurement: how councils can actually buy ticketing software.
The Procurement Act 2023, thresholds, and frameworks
The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, replacing the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for most contracting authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (Scotland has its own separate regime). The full regime applies above a threshold, which for sub-central contracting authorities such as councils is £207,720 for goods and services as of 2026. Most ticketing software costs a small fraction of that, so the formal tender process generally does not apply. Below-threshold purchases are not covered procurement, which means fewer obligations, but they remain subject to the council's own financial regulations and standing orders and any below-threshold transparency duties.
- Procurement Act 2023 in force from 24 February 2025, replacing the 2015 regulations
- Full regime above £207,720 for goods and services for sub-central authorities (2026)
- Most ticketing software sits well below threshold, so no formal tender is generally required
- Below-threshold buying still follows the council's financial regulations and standing orders
- Cloud software can be bought via the Crown Commercial Service / Government Commercial Agency G-Cloud framework
VAT: Section 33 and the business question.
Why this one belongs with your finance team
Local authorities, including parish and town councils (but not parish meetings, which are parishes with no separate council), are Section 33 bodies under the VAT Act 1994 and can recover VAT they incur on their non-business activities, a special refund mechanism so VAT on public functions does not fall on the council taxpayer. The harder question is whether a particular ticket sale is business or non-business activity. Where a body acts for the public good funded by public expenditure it is unlikely to be in business for VAT, but where it supplies goods or services for consideration by way of business, with frequency, scale, and continuity, that is within the scope of VAT, and a cultural exemption can apply to some admissions by eligible bodies. The treatment of a given ticket is fact-specific, so this decision belongs with the council's finance team or Section 151 officer, not with a ticketing platform.
- Councils recover VAT on non-business activity under Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994
- Whether ticket income is business or non-business activity is fact-specific
- A cultural exemption can apply to some admissions by eligible bodies
- Confirm the treatment with your finance team or Section 151 officer before pricing
Data protection: controller, processor, and the contract.
The Article 28 written contract
A council is the data controller for the personal data of the residents and customers who book its events. A ticketing platform that processes that data only on the council's instructions is usually a data processor. Under Article 28 of the UK GDPR, whenever a controller uses a processor there must be a written contract in place, covering processing only on documented instructions, confidentiality, security, sub-processor authorisation, assistance with data-subject rights, and the deletion or return of data at the end. Whether a platform is a processor or an independent controller depends on how much it decides for itself, but for a standard run-ticketing-on-your-behalf arrangement, processor is the usual position. Ask any platform for its data processing agreement.
Controller
The council determines why and how residents' booking data is processed
Processor
A platform acting only on the council's instructions is usually a processor
Article 28 contract
A written data processing agreement is required between controller and processor
Where this gets broken.
The mistakes councils make most often
Most council ticketing problems are one of these, and all of them are avoidable if you know about them in advance.
- Paying a per-reservation fee on free civic events, so a free Remembrance service still costs the precept money.
- Assuming a third-party booking page means the supplier owns the accessibility duty. The council remains legally responsible for WCAG 2.2 AA and its accessibility statement.
- Over-engineering the procurement: running a full tender for a small, below-threshold software purchase that did not need one, against the council's own standing orders.
- Under-doing it the other way: ignoring the council's financial regulations and value-for-money duty because the spend felt small.
- Running events with no data processing agreement in place with the platform, leaving the Article 28 requirement unmet.
- Assuming all ticket income is VATable, or that none of it is, instead of asking the Section 151 officer about the specific event.
Where Seaty fits in.
What Seaty does not do is take the council's own duties away. The WCAG 2.2 AA duty, the accessibility statement, the VAT determination, and the controller's data-protection obligations remain the council's. For how the platform fits each tier, see Seaty for town and parish councils and Seaty for local authorities.
Important: general information, not advice.
It is provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied, as to its accuracy, completeness, or currency. UK rules change frequently, the position may have changed since this guide was last reviewed, and we are under no obligation to update it. Any figures and examples are illustrative only.
You should not rely on this guide, and you use it at your own risk. Always verify the current position against the primary sources, and take your own professional advice, before making any decision or acting on anything you read here. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Seaty accepts no liability for any loss or damage of any kind arising from any use of, or reliance on, this guide or the third-party websites it links to.
The right people to ask are: your accessibility or digital lead for the accessibility duty and statement; your procurement function or monitoring officer for procurement; your finance team or Section 151 officer, or HMRC, for VAT; and your data protection officer for the processor contract. When in doubt, ask internally first, then the relevant regulator, and only then act.
Related guides
Running a council event?
Sources & further reading
Accessibility
Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies (gov.uk)
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
Some changes to the public sector digital accessibility regulations (GDS Accessibility blog)
VAT and HMRC
Local authorities and similar bodies (VAT Notice 749) (HMRC, gov.uk)
Value Added Tax Act 1994, section 33 (legislation.gov.uk)
Procurement
Transforming Public Procurement (gov.uk)
Procurement Act 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)
PPN 023: 2026 Threshold Amounts (gov.uk)
G-Cloud buyers' guide (gov.uk)
Local government
Understand how your council works (gov.uk)
Localism Act 2011, Part 1 (general power of competence) (legislation.gov.uk)
Local Government Finance Act 1992 (legislation.gov.uk)
Data protection
Controllers and processors (ICO)
UK GDPR Article 28 (legislation.gov.uk)
