Albert Hall reverses ban on trustees touting seats Royal Albert Hall seatholders have voted to reverse a bylaw to ban trustees from profiting from their debenture seats. Following reports earlier this year, which claimed that relatives of trustees were selling tickets for profit, a rule was passed by the venue's governing council preventing the commercial sale of surplus tickets. That rule has now been overturned during a vote at the Hall's annual meeting. A quarter of the Hall's 5,250 seats are owned by members, but because the Albert Hall is a charity those members are prevented from reaping financial benefits by the rules of the Charity Commission, the industry watchdog. According to the Charity Commission, a charity must only allow members to enjoy private benefits that are "incidental to its public function." However, the Hall's own rules have previously given members the rights over their seats. Paul Palmer, director of the Centre for Charity Effectiveness as Cass Business School in London, has been reported in The Times saying that the new vote to overturn the ban would probably result in action by the Charity Commission. The golden principle of charity trusteeship is that you should be doing it as an altruistic act, not for personal gain or profit. This is effectively a challenge to the commission's authority," he said. Charity lawyer Michael King, however, said that the Commission was unlikely to be able to "ride roughshod over members' rights."