MD3180 Community & Statutory Events Programme – additional support 2023-24 to 2024-25

1.1.    This Mayoral Decision (MD) is an update to MD2939 (which approved a three-year community and statutory events programme 2022-23 to 2024-25), with regards to the delivery of the community and statutory events programme 2023-24 to 2024-25. It seeks the Mayor’s approval for additional funding of £1,037,000 (£518,500 per year) over 2023-24 and 2024-25.
1.2.    The GLA has, under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act), powers to promote the economic and social development of London and improve the environment in Greater London; and duties to promote tourism to, in and through Greater London. Events can bring economic and social benefits to the city; and major events can raise the city’s profile and present a positive image to the world’s media and potential visitors.
1.3.    In addition, the Mayor is statutorily required under the GLA Act to carry out a minimum of three public consultation events each year: two People’s Question Time (PQT) events and one State of London Debate (SOLD). 
1.4.    Community events celebrate the city’s diversity as its core asset, bringing people together in shared experiences and providing opportunities for social integration. Thus, they ultimately bring positive economic and social benefits to London. Cultural events enrich people’s lives, improving their quality of life and general wellbeing. They contribute to the London economy in the generation of jobs – one in six jobs in London is in the cultural sector. Free events provide Londoners with access to arts and entertainment, which they may otherwise not be able to experience. 
1.5.    Major events stimulate London’s economy by being a catalyst for economic regeneration and creating publicity to increase the attractiveness of London to new visitors and investors – as well as to Londoners. They provide a platform to showcase London on an international stage and attract visitors to our vibrant city. They also encourage the fuller participation of London’s communities. 
1.6.    In 2021, a report by professional services firm Hatch, and promotion organisation London & Partners, revealed that major events contribute over £600m on average to the capital’s economy every year; and that they can be a huge catalyst towards London’s recovery from the pandemic. The report estimated that every visitor to a concert and cultural event generated on average £23 to the London economy.
1.7.    The Mayor’s 2021 manifesto states:
“As we emerge from the pandemic I want [major events] back, better and more colourful than ever. So when it is safe, I will support religious and cultural festivals once more taking their place as centrepieces in the city’s calendar of events, including Christmas, St George’s Day, Diwali, Eid, St Patrick’s Day, Lunar New Year, Vaisakhi, Black History Month, Chanukah, Pride and UK Black Pride. Building on the success of Africa in London, I’ll also develop, in collaboration with London's Black communities, an event to celebrate Black culture.”
1.8.    The core events programme also responds to the Mayor’s vision of a ‘City for all Londoners’, as the programme supports: making London a fairer and more tolerant city that is 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 arts and cultural offer. 
1.9.    Community events also link to the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration, ‘All of Us’. Furthermore, in the Culture Strategy it is stated: 
“The Mayor will continue to fund festivals and events with an emphasis on more community involvement, increasing quality, raising profile and increasing volunteering.” 
The events delivered as part of the Mayor’s events programme help deliver against these strategic aims, by celebrating our diversity as a city, and encouraging people to be proud of the wide range of different communities that call London their home.
1.10.    The community and cultural engagement in, and the community-led approach to, our events programme – which brings Londoners together around celebrations and commemorations – supports our recovery missions of engaging Londoners and building strong communities. This is particularly the case for Londoners who are Black or of colour, who were most adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
1.11.    The Events for London team, within External Relations, is responsible for the delivery of GLA statutory events (PQT and SOLD); cultural events (including Black on the Square); and services and ceremonies to mark key anniversaries or dates of community interest. These cover celebrations such as St Patrick’s Day and St George’s Day; and religious festivals that reflect the five main faiths (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism). These festivals include Eid, Diwali, Vaisakhi, Chanukah, Easter and Christmas.
1.12.    The Events for London team also deliver ad hoc responsive events, for example: vigils held in response to terror attacks, and subsequent commemoration events; development of the London Blossom Garden as a memorial to key workers, and Londoners who lost their lives to COVID-19; and other ad hoc events, for example, film screenings.
Community and statutory events programme
1.13.    Whilst the community events programme is developing, the annual event deliverables during 2023-24 to 2024-25 are outlined in the table below. 

Additional programme costs
1.14.    Since the pandemic, the prices in the events industry have been driven up by reduced availability of people-resource, supply-chain issues, and increases in both materials and event-infrastructure costs. Industry experts agree that these increased costs are likely to be a new baseline across the industry for the foreseeable future. 

1.15.    We have also seen a significant increase in the expectations and requirements imposed by local authorities since the pandemic. These will only increase further with the imminent introduction of Martyn’s Law, proposed in the wake of inquiries into terrorist attacks in public spaces across the UK, most notably the Manchester Arena bombing. The purpose of Martyn’s Law (previously referred to as the Protect Duty) is to improve security in public spaces. To ensure we are adhering to the new legislation, security and infrastructure activities will need to be expanded.

1.16.    As well as the general impact of inflation and fuel/transport cost rises, the main reasons for these increases are as follows: 
•    A shift in public and audience behaviour presenting unprecedented and challenging issues, resulting in a requirement for expanded stewarding and security provision.
•    Stewarding and local crew/staffing. Costs have gone up significantly due to limited capacity and higher management fees. Hourly and day-rate increases are also being seen across site crew.
•    Site infrastructure and services (e.g., toilets, fencing, generators, marquees, materials, etc): prices have doubled (or in some instances, such as cabins, quadrupled) due to supply across the UK. There is also a shortage of available drivers. The events industry is currently paying a significant premium for all these services.
1.17.    Due to the dynamic nature of planning for events, and the often-limited control over external factors (such as those outlined above, and other external factors such as changing threat levels which would impact on security and crowd management requirements), budgets for each GLA delivered event are set as an indicative baseline. Alongside this, a revised and realistic approach to event sponsorship will take place this year to support the event budget. It is the intention that any over/underspends on individual projects will be contained within the overall events programme budget. An assessment of affordability and monitoring of spend will be closely managed for each event in the programme, and issues arising will be escalated appropriately. 
Sponsorship and other income
1.18.    For the events delivered by the GLA, sponsorship, other income, and concessions (if relevant and appropriate, e.g. food and drink stalls/tents on Trafalgar Square) will be sought. All external income sought will be in accordance with the GLA’s powers and its Sponsorship Policy. Should income not meet estimated targets, the events will, wherever possible, be scaled to accommodate delivery within the available budget. Where funds secured exceed the need and capacity of the event(s) in question, the core GLA contribution to the event will be reduced and reallocated to other events within the core programme that may not have reached their income targets, and to support ad hoc small event activity. 

1.19.    In addition to cash income, we will also seek benefit in kind, such as contributions to event programming or other content, to assist in the enhancement and promotion of events.
 

Commissioned outcomes
2.1.    Bringing communities together and increasing the engagement with London’s communities is a key driver for our community events to support social integration. To achieve this, our overarching goals are to:
•    identify and target specific communities to support and highlight social inclusion across London
•    use community events to highlight a specific theme that’s relevant to the GLA’s priorities
•    maintain and develop a long-term relationship with the audiences
•    raise awareness amongst communities of other policy areas
•    set a target marketing reach for each community event after initial benchmarking
•    continue to review both qualitative and quantitative research to inform the programme’s development. 
2.2.    This activity will be measured through market research showing the diverse profile of event attendees, alongside the specific community audiences that the event targets. Audience engagement, awareness and sentiment are also measured through the event market research on recall and satisfaction levels, and through digital traffic and click-through rates on the GLA website. Each event will have specific targets for the audience demographic, based on benchmarking and community analysis. 
2.3.    Attendance at events stimulates additional spending. We aim to generate additional spend in the local economy of up to £15m. This figure is based on research conducted at GLA events; it should be noted that the true level of additionality of extra spending is difficult to determine precisely as the sample size of attendees at each event is relatively small.
Additional benefits
2.4.    The additional benefits of the programme are:
•    an enhanced positive global 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 volunteering opportunities.
2.5.    Whilst difficult to measure, there are several additional benefits that we are actively trying to foster through staging the events in our programme, including:
•    increased sense of community through volunteering opportunities and social interaction at events
•    encouraging Londoners’ sense of pride in their city
•    enjoyment and satisfaction to support the wellbeing of Londoners, and the improvement of their health and quality of life. This is particularly applicable to Londoners with limited disposable income; free events offer access to arts and entertainment that they may otherwise not be able to experience.
2.6.    Community focus-group research demonstrates a strong desire from communities to retain ‘high-profile’ community events on Trafalgar Square; feedback shows that they offer a sense of belonging in London. It is recognised that, whilst engagement with the ‘target community’ at these events is generally high, there is potential for improvement. Events on Trafalgar Square offer great value in their capacity to bring together different communities, supporting social integration; and to enhance London’s profile as a diverse and open city for visitors. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and 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 different 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.    The events programme is planned to be inclusive and aimed at all Londoners. This will be achieved through the programme content; the broad and targeted approach to marketing channels; and accessible facilities at the event, which aim specifically to reduce the barriers to attendance by people with disabilities or mobility issues. The events help people to feel part of our city and bring communities together, supporting social integration. They are also a chance for individuals to better understand their fellow Londoners; and they support engagement with the city’s wide range of faith and community groups. 
3.4.    Focus-group research about the events programme shows that participants value the range of events in London and appreciate the Mayor supporting these. They feel it is important to celebrate London’s diversity, and to increase Londoners’ awareness of different cultures and traditions. In the research, they showed a commitment towards inclusion, and understood that the Mayor cares about bringing people together. The events programme was seen as a good use of funding with clear benefits to Londoners.
3.5.    Many of the events within the programme engage directly with specific community stakeholder groups in their planning, and highlight the contribution of specific communities – for example, Vaisakhi (Sikh community), St Patrick’s Day (Irish community), Eid (Muslim community) and Diwali (Hindu community). At the same time, the events are about bringing different communities together, sharing cultures and supporting social integration. From research undertaken across the events, on average 81 per cent of attendees agree that the events represent the culture they are portraying well; and 62 per cent learnt something new about the culture of the community whose event they attended.
3.6.    We will continue to develop our festivals to ensure that they are high-quality cultural events. Furthermore, we will work with communities to ensure our programme reflects their needs. Throughout the planning process of individual events, we work closely with the Communities and Social Policy Unit through project working groups to ensure that equalities considerations, and the needs of those with protected characteristics, are considered in our event planning and delivery of the community events programme. We are also developing our community advisory groups to support the planning process, and are specifically seeking to increase our engagement with harder-to-reach communities. 
 

Key risks and issues
4.1.    The key risks and issues are outlined in the table below:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.2.    In approving the Events for London Programme, this directly links to the following:
•    Manifesto commitment: the Mayor’s manifesto states: 
“As we emerge from the pandemic I want [major events] back, better and more colourful than ever. So when it is safe, I will support religious and cultural festivals once more taking their place as centrepieces in the city’s calendar of events, including Christmas, St George’s Day, Diwali, Eid, St Patrick’s Day, Lunar New Year, Vaisakhi, Black History Month, Chanukah, Pride and UK Black Pride. Building on the success of Africa in London, I’ll also develop, in collaboration with London's Black communities, an event to celebrate Black culture.”
•    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. 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: celebrate London’s rich diversity and bring communities together through a series of high-profile, accessible and inclusive events and campaigns.
•    Recovery mission – Engaging Londoners: ensure 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. Develop 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. Continue to support cultural activities that help Londoners to engage with the cultural and community life of their city.
•    Recovery mission – Building Strong Communities: focus on hyperlocal, 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: develop 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. Promote existing community and cultural spaces, and cultural engagement.
•    Recovery mission – Helping Londoners into Good Work: support Londoners into good jobs with a focus on sectors key to London’s recovery.
4.3.    Where events involve specific communities, these communities are engaged though a stakeholder group that is consulted and advises on the event. 
4.4.    Public correspondence, via the GLA Public Liaison Unit, and market research at events is also used to assess impact and considered in future planning of events where negative comments and improvement suggestions may be reasonably addressed.
4.5.    Data protection legislation is taken into account for the events programme, and there is regular consultation with the GLA’s Information Governance team. We have processes in place to deal with data we receive and how we use it. This includes a process to seek approval for use of images taken of audience members and performers at our events.
4.6.    Local authorities and statutory agencies – including Westminster City Council (or any other local authority impacted), the Metropolitan Police Service, Transport for London (TfL), the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and other key stakeholders to the specific event – are consulted and the event impact assessed via the multi-agency planning process (Licensing Operational Safety Planning Groups) and key stakeholder meetings. This is an essential part of the Premise Licence process.
4.7.    Neighbours on Trafalgar Square are consulted regularly and through established quarterly planning meetings.
Procurement
4.8.    Events delivered by the GLA will be procured by TfL Procurement and Commercial in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code, generally using the Events Framework for event production services. Events receiving funding will be on the basis of funding agreements, with predetermined milestones to receive the funding. All events will be managed by an events officer from within the Events for London team.
Conflicts of interest
4.9.    There are no known conflicts of interest in relation to this decision paper and those involved in the delivery of the programme. 
 

5.1.     Mayoral approval is sought for the core events programme running from 2023-24 to 2024-25; and associated expenditure of up to £2,857,000 (£1,428,500 per annum). £910,000 per annum (£1,820,000) has already been approved via MD2939; this MD seeks further approval to spend £518,500 per year on events (£1,037,000 over two years). Of the £518,500 additional spend,  £219,000 is already contained within the budget 2023-24; £ 299,500 will be an overspend in this financial year and is anticipated to be covered by other underspends in the Strategy & Communications Directorate.
5.2.       The budget for 2024-25 will contain this additional cost, subject to the final 2024-25 budget-setting process. 
5.3.     The Events team is expecting income totalling £660,000 over two years to enhance and supplement some of the events proposed. This is included in the £518,500 additional expenditure request. If the income target is not met, the project’s expenditure will be reduced to the funding available. Any income secured over and above the income target will be used to enhance specific events (subject to the funding agreement and funders approval); and, where appropriate, the GLA will look to reduce the GLA contribution where enhancements to events are not required.
5.4.    Approval is also requested for delegation to the Executive Director, Strategy and Communications (to exercise without the need for a further decision form) to seek, accept and spend sponsorship and event stall-holder income, from suitable partners. This will be used to enhance events within the programme if secured. 
5.5.     Break clauses will be in contracts spanning future years to enable the contract to cease, should funding not be available in future years.
5.6.    As detailed within the main body of this report, the Event team delivers several other events during the year, outside the current portfolio of community events currently seeking approval. These events will be subject to separate approval via the Authority’s decision-making process.
5.7.    The Major Events team within the Strategy and Communications Directorate will manage these events programmes.
 

6.1.    Please refer to the legal comments set out in MD2939, which remain equally applicable to the decisions requested of the Mayor in this report, as supplemented by paragraph 6.2 below.
6.2.    In cases where the GLA proposes to award grant funding to third parties, officers are required to consider the potential application of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and, if applicable, that the relevant grant funding complies with the subsidy control principles. 
 

7.1.    The work will be delivered according to the timelines detailed below: 

MD2939 Community Events Programme 2022-23 to 2024-25.