Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

aise sponsorship in 2001 was as a direct consequence of the tragic murders of Mr. Bhatti and
Mr. Watson in 2000. The decline in sponsorship continued in 2002, following media reports
highlighting the internal management and staffing difficulties of NHCT. The dispute and
subsequent demise of NHCT led to increased speculation about whether the Carnival would in
fact take place that year. In 2003, a new organisation, the LNHCL was established to take
over from NHCT. However, core funding was reduced by two-thirds when grants provided by
the Arts Council and ALG came to an end in 2002 and were not renewed.
4.65 When the size and scale of the Notting Hill Carnival is compared with the funding and staffing
profile of NHCT in 2001 and LNHCL in 2003, the extent to which enormous reliance is being
placed on the support and in-kind resources provided by the police, emergency services and
local authorities becomes much more apparent. In 2001, RBKC had estimated its contribution
towards the direct and indirect costs of the Carnival to be in the region of £500,000. WCC’s
costs had been placed in the region of £100,000, whilst the MPS, for whom the Notting Hill
Carnival continues to be its single biggest policing operation each year, placed its costs at
£5.7 million in 2003.
Possibilities for the Future
4.66 The pressing issue for the Carnival Review Group is the contradiction of an event that, to all
intents and purposes, stands as one of London’s major international attractions on the one
hand, but continues to be chronically under-funded and under-resourced every year. One
immediately becomes aware of the funding and economic development opportunities that, for
one reason or another, the organisers of the Carnival have either failed to take advantage of
or been excluded from – years of regeneration and City Challenge monies has flowed into the
North Kensington area and yet neither the Trust nor the Notting Hill Carnival have ever been
beneficiaries. The Arts Council review noted that in order to achieve the significant stepchange
required in the medium term (3-5 years), funding beyond its current scope would be
required. The Arts Council had recommended that serious consideration be given to its
‘Stabilisation Programme’, a funding scheme that could unlock substantial resources to
underpin a major organisational capacity-building programme.
4.67 As a result of the Notting Hill Carnival’s financial constraints, the key funding organisations
established the Carnival Funders’ Group whose membership comprised RBKC, the Arts
Council, ALG and the MPS. Through its provision of funding for stewards, the GLA also
became a member of this group in 2001. WCC joined the group a year later when it provided
a small amount of funding to the Carnival organisers for the first time. In the main, the focus
of the group was very much limited to immediate funding issues and concerns of the Carnival
and to providing regular reports in terms of the level of commercial sponsorship raised and
confirmation from group members in relation to their particular funding contributions in any
one year. The Review Group found that in many ways the concern of the Funders’ Group
appeared to be purely operational in nature – its primary consideration was whether the
Carnival organisers had raised sufficient funds in order to deliver operationally in the relevant
Carnival year – and therefore lacked any strategic focus or long-term approach. The Review
Group were of the opinion that whilst there was a role for the Carnival Funders’ Group, there
was also an urgent need for a higher level forum that would be capable of directing its
attention to the longer term strategic and infrastructural work that was essential for the
Notting Hill Carnival to develop professionally and successfully. Since the Carnival Funders’
Group tended to be overlooked in favour of operational issues and problems which were
themselves the direct result of the failure to prioritise the strategic long-term funding
requirements of the event, it was seen as essential that a new structure be established to
accommodate both goals.
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