The Met has consistently raised concerns about the possibility of
‘a mass casualty event' at Notting Hill Carnival[1]. The
London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has
called on the Mayor to commission a review of crowd density and
safety at the event.
This follows the Committee investigation into
public order policing in London, specifically looking at:
- Protests related to the conflict in Gaza
- Notting Hill Carnival
- The policing of football
The Committee found that:
- The Met continues to raise concerns about the risk of a crush
scenario at Notting Hill Carnival, due to high crowd density and
inadequate stewarding provision from the organisers. The
Committee shares these concerns.
- Increased public order demand is putting the Met under
strain, and this has not been matched with an increase in funding
from the Government. The increase that the Government did
announce in December 2024 (in the form of an increased National
and International Capital Cities grant) does not go far enough
towards bridging the financial shortfall.
- Officers who have undertaken specialist public order training
are now stepping back from public order work in increasing
numbers, due to the demand of regular weekend shifts and impact
on family life.
- The Met continues to rely on ‘abstraction', where local
officers are taken away from regular duties at short notice to
support public order operations in central London. Taking
neighbourhood officers away from their regular duties is having a
continuing impact on local policing services.
Notting Hill Carnival is an important date in London's calendar.
It is a unique celebration of Caribbean culture and history
within the city and attracts around two million visitors each
year.[2] This volume of people
also creates a complex policing challenge.
As part of its 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 whole event.
Key recommendations from the report - Public order policing –
the Met's approach - include:
- The Mayor must commission a review of crowd density and crowd
safety at Notting Hill Carnival to inform stewarding
requirements. This must include a full review of pinch points and
strict guidance for the number of stewards required across the
Carnival.
- The Government must ensure the National and International
Capital City (NICC) Grant it provides to the Met is updated
yearly in line with inflation and operational
requirements.3
- The Met must publish its Aid Reduction Plan, or a summary
thereof, to provide reassurance to local communities concerned
about the impact of abstractions on neighbourhood policing.
AM, Chairman of the
London Assembly Police and Crime Committee,
said:
“The Carnival is an important part of London's 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.
“However, we have seen and heard a number of incredibly
worrying incidents with crowd density at the event, which
severely impacts the Met's ability to keep visitors safe or to
respond to any incidents that occur.
“The 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 year's 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.
“We 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.”
Notes to editors:
- London Assembly Police and Crime
Committee, Transcript of Agenda
Item 6 - Question and Answer Session with the Mayor's Office
for Policing and Crime and the Metropolitan Police Service,
11 September 2024, p. 1
- BBC News, Fabulous costumes and a 'feast
for the senses' as thousands turn out for Notting Hill
Carnival, 26 August 2024
- Zoë Garbett AM dissents from
Recommendation 1. She does not agree with the call to: “ensure
the National and International Capital City (NICC) Grant it
provides to the Met is updated yearly in line with inflation and
operational requirements.” The Committee received written
evidence from Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) highlighting
how: “abstraction from local neighbourhood police teams to deploy
thousands of officers in central London for public order policing
was a choice made by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner”.
Assembly Member Garbett agrees that this is a choice made by the
Met and believes that the response should not be to increase the
Met's funding, but instead to look at the choices made around how
protest and other public order events are policed.
- Notting Hill Carnival Ltd were
invited to give evidence to the Committee, but the Committee did
not receive a response.
