The Scottish Government

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Review of Marches and Parades in Scotland

Appendix I: Guidance for organisers - elements of a 'How To' guide

A number of local authorities in Scotland have already produced guidance for organisers of events. I am grateful to Scottish Borders Council for their 'Organising Events in the Scottish Borders' upon which I have drawn heavily in this summary of the sorts of issues that might be covered in guidance. I am also grateful to Fife Council for their 'Events Toolkit' and to Edinburgh Council for their 'Events in Edinburgh - Planning Guide'. It would be helpful for other local authorities to produce similar guidance for organisers in their own areas. I consider that the sorts of things that guidance could usefully cover could include:

A - Legal requirements on organisers - organisers of events, including processions need to be aware of their legal requirements. They have a common law duty of care to take reasonable care not to cause foreseeable death, injury, illness or damage. Failure to take reasonable care could result in claims for damages against the organisers for injury or loss to person. Depending on the nature of the event, other legislation could apply, such as:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and its associated Regulations which put a duty on organisers to carry out risk assessments to identify any risk and to reduce it to acceptable levels;
• The Food Safety Act 1990 which applies when food is provided or sold;
• The Occupiers Liability (Scotland) Act 1960;
• Traffic legislation - the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended by the Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Act 1991 and the Road Traffic Regulation (Special Events) Act 1994 where there is a requirement for restrictions for road users such as road closures, diversions, signs or cones when a Temporary Traffic Regulations Order may be necessary. There could be a charge associated;
• The Control of Pollution Act 1974 which makes provision about the use of loud speakers;
• Other licences, permits and certificates could be required depended on the nature of the event or procession. These could include: a public entertainment licence, a liquor licence, a street traders licence, a licence for a use of a park or open space, a lottery permit, a licence for a charitable collection or a market operators licence. There will be a fee associated with some of these licences;
• The Public Order Act 1936 which prohibits the wearing of uniforms signifying association with any proscribed organisation; and
• The Terrorism Act 2000 which prohibits the display of certain symbols associated with any proscribed organisation.

This is not an exhaustive list, but simply illustrates the wide range of issues of which organisers of events including processions need to be aware.

The guidance could helpfully cover a range of other issues including:

B - Insurance requirements - organisers of events will be subject to potential legal liabilities should an accident or loss occur. It is essential that organisers take out appropriate liability insurance to cover the event. Having carried out a risk assessment and produced an event plan will be helpful in the event of a claim to demonstrate that organisers have acted with due care and attention. Organisers will need to ensure that they record specific details of any reported incidents and report any serious incidents to the police and insurance company and, in addition, any serious accidents to Environmental Health.

C - Event planning - successful event planning requires considerable professional skill, knowledge and expertise. Guidance could help organisers identify the steps to be taken in successful event planning. Issues that need to be covered here include: a summary of the event, site plans and a health and safety policy to cover issues like:

• communication;
• crowd management;
• vehicle management;
• fire arrangements;
• event activities;
• temporary structures;
• waste and hygiene management;
• welfare arrangements;
• provision of lighting;
• insurance arrangements;
• training requirements;
• security;
• contingency arrangements;
• emergency arrangements;
• site safety inspection; and
• incident reporting.

Other issues which organisers need to address are the need to: liaise with key bodies such as the local authority, police, fire brigade, public transport, and first aid providers; ensure effective publicity and press liaison and contact with potential sponsors; oversee and control contractors, and the hiring and installation arrangements. Organisers will need to draw up their budget for the event.

D - Checklist and timeline - Providing a checklist and a timeline of what needs to be done and when would be particularly helpful to organisers.

E - Risk assessment - organisers must carry out detailed risk assessments. There already exists helpful guidance to guide organisers through the process. The Health and Safety Executive's guidance '5 steps to risk assessment' is particularly helpful in setting out the requirements. Risk assessments are not complex. However, it is important that they are carried out and recorded as that will be helpful to organisers planning and also should anything go wrong to demonstrate that organisers had taken appropriate care and attention. The 5 stages are:

• Identify the activities - for example a gala day procession involving floats;
• Identify the hazards - for example a collision with a pedestrian;
• Identify who could be harmed - for example children watching the procession;
• Control the risk - for example ensure sufficient stewards and clearly defined pedestrian areas and drivers of floats aware of any speed limits and other conditions; and
• Monitor and review the risk.

Organisers of large processions may want to employ a professional risk assessor to carry out their risk assessment.

F - Stewarding - effective stewarding is necessary for every event. The risk assessment process should identify how many stewards are necessary but it would be helpful if the guidance provided examples of what had been provided in similar events.

Stewards need to be:

• fit and capable to both physically and temperamentally to carry out their role;
• readily identifiable, in visible clothing;
• fully briefed in their duties at the event and the extent of their role;
• appropriately trained;
• in communication with the organisers and the police;

G - Essential contacts - it would be helpful to organisers for the guidance to provide a list of the key essential contacts for organising an event.

H - General code of conduct - finally the guidance could also set out the general code of conduct expected of organisers and participants of a procession.

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