Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

framework for land use and development. He also has powers over transport and
economic development through two executive bodies, Transport for London and
the London Development Agency. A new Metropolitan Police Authority and
London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority were also set up to oversee the
Metropolitan Police and fire services, respectively. The Mayor appoints members of
the Assembly and others to sit on the boards of all four bodies.
Central Government Intervention
2.108 The Review Group found that either one of these organisations could potentially play a
strategic role in co-ordinating and assuming responsibility for the public safety aspects of
major and/or strategic cross-borough events in London, if properly funded and given the
statutory powers to carry out such a role. Although to date, the ALG’s involvement in the
Notting Hill Carnival had been purely through its grants and funding committee, there was
evidence to suggest that GOL had initially identified a role for itself when it convened an
Interdepartmental Working Group on the Notting Hill Carnival in the spring of 2000. This
working group, comprising of representatives from GOL, the Home Office and the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had engaged in discussions within the context of
Carnivals up to and including the 1999 Carnival. Whilst it did not produce any substantial
material or a detailed report, it did reach the following conclusions:
2.108.1 the Home Office remained concerned about attendance levels at the Carnival. It
concluded that if the levels continued to grow at the current rate, the sheer volume
of people would exceed the ability of the police to manage the crowds, leading to
public order problems;
2.108.2 at the time, no relevant Government grant programmes had been identified apart
from the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB); and
2.108.3 although parallels could be drawn with the Millennium Celebration and the New
Year’s Day Parade, the group identified what they believed to be significant
differences: the Millennium event was recognized by the group as a national event
organized through the London Readiness Team. The New Year’s Day Parade had
been attended by 1.5 million people and had been self-financing with total private
backing.
2.109 In its interim report, the Review Group had expressed its firm view that the Notting Hill
Carnival - now an event of major national and international significance - required central
Government support in the areas of i) public safety and policing and ii) cultural and artistic
content 74 . Its recommendations had been directed towards the Home Office, DCMS and the
Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). Following the publication
of the interim report and a meeting between the GLA and GOL, the message that appeared to
be emanating from the latter was the view that it would be taking a step back given the
establishment of the GLA as London’s new strategic body.
Sharing Best Practice Globally
74
‘Notting Hill Carnival Review: Interim Report and Public Safety Profile Recommendations for 2001’, Greater London Authority (April
2001).
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