MD3150 Notting Hill Carnival 2023 – Additional Support

1.1    This decision form seeks the Mayor’s approval of additional funding of £296,300 in 2023, to enhance the GLA’s contribution to Notting Hill Carnival’s stewarding and crowd-management resources. The funding is specifically to cover increased stewarding costs, and additional stewarding provision and crowd-management support. The sum of £650,000 has already been approved by the Mayor of London, in MD2950. This decision form seeks approval to increase the funding to Notting Hill Carnival Ltd to a total of £946,300 in 2023. 
1.2    The GLA takes reasonable steps to assist in the mitigation of public safety risks, as far as possible, through the support given to the community event organiser, Notting Hill Carnival Ltd.
1.3    The GLA has powers and duties under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act) to promote wealth creation, economic and social development, and improvement of the environment in Greater London; and to promote tourism to, in and through Greater London. Events have a profound potential to bring economic and social benefits to the city. Major events can raise the city’s profile and present a positive image to the world’s media and potential visitors. 
1.4    The Notting Hill Carnival has been staged in London over the August bank holiday weekend every year since 1966 (except 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19). It is a great celebration of Caribbean culture and one of London's highest-profile public events, attracting people from across not only the capital, but also the UK and overseas. 
1.5    The artistic vision of Carnival is to foster the creative development and enhancement of diverse artistic excellence; and to transform perceptions of Carnival culture locally, nationally and internationally. The event celebrates the history of Carnival, and reflects diverse artistic elements, cultural identity, heritage and community cohesion. 
1.6    In addition to the weekend event, there is an associated programme of community-led work that runs throughout the year, including Carnival arts education projects. Combined, these programmes and events support the GLA’s duty to promote tourism to, in and through Greater London; and the exercise of powers to promote social development.
Organisation of Carnival
1.7    Unlike many other large-scale events, Notting Hill Carnival has developed organically rather than being driven by a particular group or individual. As such, the lines of responsibility and management have historically been blurred. This has necessitated a higher level of support from the local authorities and agencies to support the delivery of a safe event.
1.8    The event occurs across two London boroughs: the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), which covers most of the event footprint; and Westminster City Council (WCC). Both councils support Notting Hill Carnival with funding, as well as through trading stalls, enforcement, and provision of infrastructure and utilities such as toilets and water. Brent Council, on the periphery, is also impacted.
1.9    Carnival is supported in the operational planning and delivery of the event by key statutory agencies, which together form the Licensing Operational Safety Planning Group (LOSPG). These are the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS); London Fire Brigade (LFB); Transport for London (TfL); and the NHS and its partner, St John Ambulance. 
1.10    Notting Hill Strategic Partners Group (SPG) advises on strategic issues related to Carnival. Senior members of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), the GLA, WCC, RBKC, TfL, the MPS, Arts Council England, the London Ambulance Service (LAS) and the official Notting Hill Carnival event organiser are represented in the SPG. 
1.11    The strategic partners of Carnival have a joined-up approach to supporting the safe and successful delivery of a community-led Notting Hill Carnival event. With RBKC as the main host borough, taking the primacy on tendering a funding opportunity for a community-led organiser for Carnival, other strategic partners offer funding commitments to the successful bidder. 
1.12    In 2018, Carnival Village Trust (CVT) was successful in its bid for RBKC’s grant funding to support its delivery of the Carnival. CVT incorporated Notting Hill Carnival Ltd as the NHC organiser to develop strategic plans to produce the event and deliver against set objectives. CVT was subsequently successful in bidding for a three-year funding opportunity for 2019, 2020 and 2021; the strategic partners supported this, and aligned their own funding commitments towards it.
1.13    Following the cancellation of Notting Hill Carnival in 2020 and 2021, RBKC agreed to extend its funding agreement with CVT for two further years (2022 and 2023), to enable three event-delivery years as the original funding agreement intended. This decision was approved under cover of an RBKC Key Decision Report, with the strategic partners supportive of this decision. 
Increase in stewarding costs 
1.14    The economic impacts of the pandemic and Brexit on events are significant, and have created a challenging future for the events industry; this effect has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. Many businesses within the events sector, including stewarding companies, did not survive the pandemic; other suppliers effectively created a monopoly in the market. Prices have also been driven up by reduced availability of people-resource
1.15    A standing contract with the Carnival stewarding company, which finished in 2022, had prices that were fixed in 2019. The organisers of Carnival have highlighted that to provide stewarding numbers at a similar level to the 2022 event would require increased funding, as the stewarding costs have significantly increased reflecting increased costs across the industry. 
Additional stewarding provision 
1.16    The sheer numbers of people attending the Notting Hill Carnival in a relatively small residential area necessitates a significant crowd-management and stewarding operation. As a community-led event with limited income streams, the organisers of Carnival have been unable to fully provide this, resulting in a high police presence to ensure crowd safety and protect public order.
1.17    To help reduce the reliance on policing to manage crowds, and improve safety at the event, the GLA has provided funding to the Carnival organisers to enhance the crowd-management and stewarding operation. 
1.18    It was recommended at the SPG that the stewarding plan should be expanded to include two new areas within the event. To deliver the required additional stewarding and comprehensive plans further funding would be required from key strategic partners (GLA, WCC and RBKC). 
Crowd-management support 
1.19    Alongside the increased stewarding numbers, it has been agreed that crowd-management support in the form of an industry expert should be provided to Notting Hill Carnival Ltd and the stewarding company for this year’s event, to provide an independent assessment and assurance to funders.
1.20    The SPG has identified that a strategic long-term piece of work is required to support the development of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd and the event. Further approval for this work will be required. An additional £10,000 has been requested to deliver the crowd management support. RBKC and WCC have also confirmed match funding for this piece of work. 
Funding costs
1.21    To support these recommendations, approval is sought for additional expenditure of up to £296,300 in 2023. This will enable Notting Hill Carnival Ltd to implement a stewarding plan that builds on the number of stewards from 2022 and provides additional provision. It will also facilitate crowd-management support in the planning and delivery of this year’s event. 
1.22    This funding to support the stewarding provision also supports the MPS in ensuring the policing operation is focused on public safety, in the context of the threat level, and on the prevention of crime and disorder. 
1.23    For 2023, in light of inflation and increased costs across the events industry, the GLA had indicated to Notting Hill Carnival Ltd that the funding provided would increase from £650,000 to £780,000 (providing additional funding of £130,000). 

1.24    On top of this requested additional funding, Notting Hill Carnival Ltd has identified that further additional budget is required to provide enhanced stewarding, at a cost of £456,300. As key partners, the GLA, RBKC and WCC have agreed to match fund this additional requirement for 2023. The GLA will contribute £156,300 which represents a third of this additional funding. 
 

2.1    Providing funding to support the meeting of stewarding-provision costs at the event will help Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, deliver the crowd-management plans produced to ensure a safer event and minimise the impact on agency services. The GLA, through the Operational Planning Safety Group, will monitor the outcomes against the stewarding plan and an agreed set of deliverables. 
2.2    The wider benefits of the event, whilst difficult to measure, are:
•    an enhanced positive profile for London, encouraging economic investment and tourism
•    education and increased awareness of other communities in London, encouraging social integration and cohesion
•    increased skills through training, volunteering and employment opportunities
•    increased sense of community through volunteering opportunities and social interaction at the event
•    encouraging Londoners’ sense of pride in their city
•    enjoyment and satisfaction to support the wellbeing of Londoners and improving their health and quality of life: this is particularly applicable to Londoners with limited disposable income, as free events offer access to the arts and entertainment, which they may otherwise not be able to experience.
2.3    This activity and the impact of the GLA funding proposed will be measured through feedback from the multi-agency LOSPG and strategic partners throughout the planning process for Carnival. In addition, market research carried out by the organiser will identify the profile of event attendees; audience engagement; awareness and sentiment; and digital traffic and click-through rates on the official website.

3.1    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. 
3.2    The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage/civil partnership status. The duty involves having appropriate regard to these matters as they apply in the circumstances, including having regard to the need to: remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or is connected to a protected characteristic; take steps to meet the diverse needs of such people; and encourage them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low. This can involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one. 
3.3    Notting Hill Carnival is one of London’s largest cultural events, delivered primarily by London’s Black Caribbean and Black African communities. Community stakeholder groups are engaged in the planning and promotion of the event, ensuring that it is appropriate and representative of the carnival community that it promotes. As a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community and volunteer-delivered event with an international profile, there are limited resources to provide the infrastructure that an event of this scale requires. By providing this funding, the GLA is supporting its safe and successful delivery for the community, for Londoners and for the many national and international visitors who attend. 
3.4    Whilst primarily delivered by London’s Black Caribbean and Black African communities, Notting Hill Carnival is a major international event that is inclusive and aimed at bringing people from different communities together to help foster good inter-community relations. This is achieved through the programme content, and the widespread media coverage and profile it receives. The preparation for Carnival involves many outreach programmes in music and arts education. Applicants for funding as the community organiser must demonstrate their connection to Notting Hill Carnival; and the ability to manage a board of Carnival representatives that consists of community stakeholders across all Carnival disciplines.
 

Key risks and issues
4.1    Whilst the GLA is not responsible for public safety at Notting Hill Carnival, it takes reasonable steps to assist in the mitigation of public safety risks, as far as is possible, through the support given to the community event organiser.
4.2    In its strategic role for London, the GLA supports Notting Hill Carnival, as a major event of significant benefit to the city, by providing funding to the organiser (CVT or any future event organiser) to support its stewarding of, and thus public safety at, the event.
4.3    The table below shows the key risks, and corresponding mitigations/responses: 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.4    In approving funding for Notting Hill Carnival, this links to the following:
•    The GLA commitment to support festivals that form centrepieces in the city’s calendar of events – here in particular, events to celebrate Black culture. 
•    Recovery mission – Engaging Londoners: ensuring Londoners are informed and equipped to participate in the capital’s recovery, including through mass public engagement, research, and community and cultural engagement designed to include those most affected by the pandemic; developing engagement activity that enables Londoners to connect and come together around celebrations, commemorations and opportunities to share in cultural activities, and feel united in London life, noting the uncertainty caused by the current context; and continuing to support cultural activities that help Londoners to engage with the cultural and community life of their city.
•    Recovery mission – Building Strong Communities:  focusing on community-led activities and co-productions with a priority on working with and through Londoners most affected by the pandemic.

•    Recovery mission – High Streets for All: developing the capacity of local authorities and town centre partnerships to work with community groups and the private sector to plan for, safeguard and directly deliver a diverse, resilient and thriving mix of high street and town centre activity within easy reach of all Londoners; and promoting existing community and cultural spaces; and promote cultural engagement.
•    Recovery mission – Helping Londoners into Good Work: supporting Londoners into good jobs with a focus on sectors key to London’s recovery.
•    City for all Londoners: making London a fairer and more tolerant city, open and accessible to all, and one in which we can all live and prosper free from prejudice; and enabling all Londoners to benefit from the city’s fantastic arts and culture.
•    All of Us – Strategy for Social Integration: using sport, volunteering, arts and culture as powerful tools for social integration; and establishing London’s reputation as a welcoming city for newcomers from other parts of the UK and abroad, with opportunities to feel a strong connection and positive sense of belonging to the city in which they are living.
•    Culture strategy: the Mayor will continue to fund festivals and events with an emphasis on more community involvement, increasing quality, raising London’s profile, and increasing volunteering.
•    Inclusive London – the Mayor’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy: celebrating London’s rich diversity; and bringing communities together through a series of high-profile, accessible and inclusive events and campaigns.
Consultation and impact assessment 
4.5    The SPG provides strategic support for the event from RBKC, WCC, the MPS, TfL, MOPAC and the GLA, working alongside the event organiser. 
4.6    The organiser engages with the wider community and stakeholders to ensure that the community is represented from all generations. Public correspondence via the GLA Public Liaison Unit, WCC and RBKC, and market research at the event, are also considered for future planning of the event where comments and improvement suggestions are made and may be reasonably implemented. 
4.7    The impact and assessment of the event will be through the multi-agency planning process LOSPG and other subgroups, whose members include WCC, RBKC, the MPS, TfL, the LAS, LFB, CVT (or another organiser), MOPAC and other key stakeholders. This is to ensure that the event is delivered safely and adheres to the regulations regarding licensing, noise, crowd management and infrastructure.
Conflicts of interest
4.8    There are no known conflicts of interest in relation to this decision paper and those involved in the delivery of the programme.
Subsidy control
4.9    The grant funding specifically and proportionately supports the policy objective of delivering a safe and successful event. The additional funding will bring about increased stewarding provision that would not be possible without this funding. As this is a community-led event, the request for additional funding has been agreed by all strategic partners with each one providing equal amounts. The additional funding is an appropriate policy instrument for achieving the policy objective.
4.10    The original grant funding was awarded to Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, which is the event organiser. Notting Hill Carnival Ltd originally ran a competitive process to procure the stewarding and security company. The proposed variation of the existing grant agreement to provide an additional £296,300 of grant funding will allow Notting Hill Carnival Ltd to procure additional services from the stewarding and security company under its existing contract. Without this grant, funding the stewarding plan would not include sufficient steward numbers (compared to 2022) and would not include new areas requiring stewarding.
 

5.1    This decision seeks approval for an additional £296,300 to be spent on GLA’s contribution to Notting Hill Carnival in 2023-24, to fund additional event costs including additional stewarding and crowd management support. The total cost to the GLA for the event will be up to £946,300 in 2023-24.
5.2    The original funding approved for the event under MD2950 was £650,000 for 2023-24. 
5.3    Of the additional costs, £130,000 can be funded from the Major Events budget.
5.4    The remaining cost to the GLA that cannot be met from the Major Events budget are £166,300. This will be covered by the Revenue Grants Unapplied reserve.
5.5    Costs for future years will be subject to the Authority’s annual budget-setting process.
 

Power to undertake the requested decisions
6.1    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the Authority’s general powers, and fall within the Authority’s statutory power to do such things considered to further, or that are facilitative of or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of social development and economic development and wealth creation within Greater London. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    consult with appropriate bodies.    
6.2    In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty – namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) and persons who do not share it; and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
    Grant funding
6.3    The comments in MD2950 regarding the original award of the grant funding to Notting Hill Carnival Ltd continue to apply to the proposed variation of that grant funding to increase it by £296,300 this financial year.
    Subsidy control
6.4    The Subsidy Control Act 2022 requires that grant funding comply with its subsidy control principles. Officers have set out at paragraphs 4.9 and 4.10, above, how the proposed grant complies with those principles.
6.5    Finally, given that the value of the original grant and the variation exceed £100,000, officers are reminded to ensure that the aggregate grant amount of £946,300 be registered on the Department for Business and Trade’s Transparency Database.
 

7.1    The project delivery timeline is outlined below: