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The annual summer Notting Hill Carnival is at risk of a ‘mass casualty event’, a crush due to crowd density, the London Assembly’s police and crime committee is warning.
In a report, after hearing evidence from the Metropolitan Police and others, the committee notes that for the policing operation for the 2024 Carnival, the Met had around 7,000 officers on duty, drawn from local policing teams as well as specialist units, with a total of around 14,000 officer shifts across the bank holiday weekend event.
Stewards
The committee says that the Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan must commission a review of Carnival crowd density and crowd safety, released it asks in advance of Carnival 2026, to inform stewarding requirements. This must include a review of pinch points and guidance for the number of stewards required across the Carnival. On stewarding, the 51-page report states that ‘the organisers at the 2024 event did not provide levels of stewarding required to ensure crowd safety’. The committee heard from police that last summer some police had to deploy into entirely stewarding roles, which police described to the committee as ‘inappropriate’. Lack of stewarding ‘contributes to risk around crushing’, the report says.
The report covers public order policing in London, including protests related to the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. As for the policing of football matches, that cost the Met around ยฃ24m; it only recouped ยฃ2.4m from the clubs. The committee questions that and recommends that the Government ‘should include the cost of policing football matches in the remit of the new Independent Football Regulator’.
What they say
Susan Hall, the Conservative chairman of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, said: โThe Carnival is an important part of Londonโs cultural calendar. Bringing millions of visitors to London is essential for the economy and providing a wide range of events for Londoners is important for the city.
โHowever, we have seen and heard a number of incredibly worrying incidents with crowd density at the event, which severely impacts the Metโs ability to keep visitors safe or to respond to any incidents that occur.
โThe Met told us during our investigation that there is a real possibility of a mass casualty event, and we cannot stand by and wait for a tragic incident to happen, action must be taken. Two people tragically lost their lives at last yearโs event due to violent crime, and it is absolutely essential that the Met is on hand to carry out its duties, and not fill in for a lack of stewarding from the organisers.
โWe urge the Mayor to commission a review of crowd density and safety at the Carnival, to ensure the event is well managed and to let the Met do its job in keeping us safe.โ
Notting Hill Carnival Ltd were invited to give evidence to the committee, but the committee did not receive a response. You can read the report at https://www.london.gov.uk/.
Photo by Mark Rowe: Notting Hill.
