Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

job description and progression Arts Council review recommended that an appraisal
system be put into place for permanent members of staff and that a skills audit and
training needs analysis be carried out with the Board and permanent staff with a view
to drawing up an appropriate training plan.
A Question of Governance
3.25 In September 2001, a management and leadership dispute within NHCT resulted in the
“members-in-waiting” passing a vote of ‘no confidence’ in four of the trustees. These
trustees were later removed from the board and new trustees elected to replace them. The
dispute was played out in the media with press coverage painting a picture of a Notting Hill
Carnival that was in disarray.
3.26 In response to these developments and on behalf of the Carnival Funders’ Group, the Arts
Council carried out an independent assessment of NHCT’s internal governance structures and
procedures. The resulting report revealed that since the category of “members in waiting”
had not been provided for in the organisation’s constitution, those who had been designated
as such had no legal right to participate in NHCT’s affairs. This meant that no formal or
legitimate mechanism had been established through which the organisation could be linked to
its ‘constituency’. The report also concluded that the governance of the organisation to fall
into disrepair and there appeared to have been a lack of due process in the way in which
trustees had been appointed and removed.
3.27 The level of uncertainty about who the rightful trustees of NHCT were, led the Carnival
Funders’ Group to meet with all the parties involved in January 2002 in order to agree a way
forward. Whilst all the funding bodies remained committed to supporting the Notting Hill
Carnival, they were united in their view about the changes that would be required to instil
public trust and confidence in NHCT’s ability to properly address the huge operational
planning considerations for a major event that was only seven months away. The uncertainty
as to who were the rightful trustees therefore presented the statutory agencies with a major
obstacle in public safety, operational planning and event management terms.
3.28 In order to obtain some clarity on the position of the trustees, the Carnival Funders’ Group
and the parties involved agreed to seek advice from the Charity Commission of England and
Wales. The Commission later confirmed the view of Arts Council’s governance report that the
‘members-in-waiting’ had no legal status and could play no role in the way NHCT was
governed. The Commission also provided a view as to who it considered to be the rightful
trustees, a view that was accepted by all parties.
3.29 The Carnival Funders Group urged all those involved in the management of the Notting Hill
Carnival to work together and “to create by the end of 2002, an organisation that was capable
of delivering the Carnival with the full confidence of its participants, its funders and its other
stakeholders”. With the support of the Carnival Funders’ Group, the trustees of NHCT agreed
to adopt a ‘caretaker’ role and implement a programme of reform designed to restore public
trust and confidence in the organisation as a whole. Changes were proposed with a view to
establishing an organising body that was transparent, accountable to and truly representative
of the carnival constituency and the local community.
3.30 Key elements of the reform programme included:
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