‘Serious concerns about public safety’ such as the risk of crushing at the 2025 Notting Hill Carnival was aired in an official inspection of crowd safety at events, and more specifically planning by safety advisory groups of major public events.
Inspectors of Constabulary summed up that ‘legal powers to ensure safety at events arenโt sufficient to mitigate risks to the public’. According to their report, they ‘found examples where the police had stepped in to manage public safety because the event organisers couldnโt safely carry out their role’. In some of the large events reviewed, ‘event security took responsibility for the area inside the event footprint. The police remained on standby, outside the arena, to respond if needed or when event management called them to take over responsibility. In several other community cultural events where the event organiser employed private stewards and security, we heard that the police routinely had to intervene to deal with crowd control and safety matters.’
‘When not if’ย
His Majestyโs Chief Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer OBE QPM said: โThe warning we heard from too many people on this inspection is that it is a question of when, not if, public safety at an event will go wrong. We are concerned that the lack of legislation and statutory guidance for non-sporting events is leading to widespread inconsistencies in the policeโs public safety operations. They, and the public, deserve clarity so that police forces can work with local authorities and event organisers to protect the public.
โThat is why we are calling for the government to carry out a review of public safety arrangements at events and the wider issues our inspection raises. This review, alongside the wider recommendations we make, will help make vital improvements to event safety.โ
Notting Hill
The inspectors noted a public warning by police about the Notting Hill Carnival; and similar concerns aired by an independent review of safety at the Carnival. The report added, ‘we are concerned by the number of other events where the police forces and partners kept silent, despite their apprehensions about public safety.’
The report stated that safety at sports grounds, particularly football stadiums, has significantly improved since the 1990s (as a result of outrage at the state of football grounds after the Hillsborough disaster of 1989). Among the 37 recommendations, the inspectors asked that the National Police Coordination Centre ‘develop a national risk matrix for events, to include a threshold for escalation to a regional or national level’. The largest recommendation is for a ‘ministerially-led cross-departmental review to secure improvements in event safety’ within a year.
SGSA
By events, the inspectors meant political rallies or Christmas markets; airshows and celebrations; and concerts or festivals; besides sport. The report points to several lacks: of a single agency or body with regulatory responsibility for oversight of non-sporting public events and those sporting events that arenโt covered by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA); of statutory guidance for event organisers; and a safety certification regime for public events similar to that for sports stadiums and football matches. As the report says, the main guidance available to event organisers and other agencies is the Purple Guide, a not-for-profit publication written by an event sector forum, and which has no basis in law. While the SGSA issues licences for 92 football grounds, and national stadiums at Wembley and Cardiff; and sells the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide for short), its legal remit ‘doesnโt extend to stadiums being used for other types of events’, the inspectors reported.
When to hold a SAG
The inspectors also found a lack of clarity about when to hold a SAG (safety advisory group, featured in the May edition of Professional Security Magazine, ‘Why advisory groups are sagging‘), by local government, the blue light services and others to go over an event’s plans beforehand. The report stated: “The absence of legislation, statutory guidance and regulation with regards to many public events, leaves the police wrestling with inconsistency …. It makes keeping the public safe harder.”
Some police spoken to by the inspectors asked ‘why certain events attracted financial support from the government but not others’ – as background, the New Yearโs Eve celebrations beside the Thames in London have some government funding while the Notting Hill Carnival doesn’t; though for 2026 the Mayor of London gave ยฃ4.66m.
For the 129-page report visit the Inspectorate’s website.
Photo by Mark Rowe: Wembley Stadium, north London.
