Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

to commit considerable resources in order to compensate for the inability of the event organiser to
assume full responsibility for the Notting Hill Carnival’s public safety issues. We believe that with
public investment comes public accountability. Given the level of operational responsibility
assumed by the OPSG in general and the local authorities and police in particular, it is our
recommendation that:
(a) the terms of reference of the OPSG, the Statement of Intent and Code of Practice should be
revised to reflect and acknowledge the various levels of operational responsibility assumed
by members of the group. These documents should be reviewed on an annual basis and
revised accordingly, as the professionalism, sustainability and delivery capacity of the
community-based event organiser increases, such that it is then able to assume greater
operational responsibility;
(b)
(c)
greater transparency and accountability for the decisions being taken by the OPSG can only
be achieved by making the minutes of all group meetings public. The group should also be
responsible for producing an annual Public Safety Strategy and detailed review, all of which
would be subject to independent scrutiny by the London Assembly, the Audit Commission
and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE); and
consideration be given to greater involvement of the HSE. There is an urgent need for an
independent agency that is capable of leading on matters of public safety at the Carnival.
Such a body could be responsible for co-ordinating the resources of the various statutory
agencies and making determinations based solely on public safety grounds. Immediate
discussions should be initiated with the HSE with a view to ascertaining what possible role
and involvement they should have in determining the nature of such an independent
agency.
17. We believe that the planning and decision-making process for the Notting Hill Carnival clearly
illustrates the difficulties encountered when responsibility for the event is not and cannot be
attributed to any one single body and where the weakness (or in some cases, absence) of an event
organiser is such that there is a danger that public safety may be compromised. The issue of public
safety responsibility and accountability is not unique to the Notting Hill Carnival. Indeed, it is
relevant to all major events that take place on the public highway. We therefore recommend that
the Mayor take immediate steps to initiate an urgent review of the public safety responsibility,
accountability and decision-making issues relating to all major street events in London. We believe
that a working group should be established with representation from the HSE, Association of
London Government (ALG), Home Office, MPS, GLA, GOL, TfL, LUL and DCMS as key partners.
We further recommend that the Minister for London play a role in facilitating these discussions.
Carnival Management and Leadership
18. The nature and complexity of the Notting Hill Carnival make the need for effective management
and leadership vital for a successful and safe event. Its absence poses a serious threat to public
safety and we believe that the limiations of the community-based management and leadership
structure surrounding the Carnival is linked to years of under investment in the administration of
the Carnival as a whole. Whilst we welcome and recognise the establishment of London Notting
Hill Carnival Ltd (LNHCL) and the Executive Committee of the Carnival Arenas (ECCA) as
significant developments that have succeeded in engendering a greater level of community
accountability for and ownership of the event, we are firmly of the view that significant
investment and capacity-building is required in order to ensure that the problems experienced by
previous Carnival organisations are not repeated in the future. We recommend that:
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