Guidance to Event Organisers

Grand DepartWest Yorkshire Police are committed to working collaboratively with our key partners in support of our communities.

We will provide guidance and assistance where appropriate in all aspects of event planning and will ensure we meet all of our legal obligations.

These guidelines explain the responsibilities of both the organisers and the police at public events and suggest that these can be met through a partnership approach to event planning and management. 

In general the public perception is that the police are the lead agency for approving all public events, including those which take place on the public highway.

In reality the Police have no authority to either approve or ban such events and, in fact, Police powers to regulate traffic for planned events are extremely limited.  Furthermore, the Police have no general duty to preserve public safety at any public event, except where there are imminent or likely threats to life.

Legal opinion suggests that the responsibility for public safety rests with the organisers of an event, the owners of the land on which it takes place and the Local Authority if the event takes place on a road.  However, other persons or agencies who undertake actions regarding public safety at an event may assume a duty of care and, therefore, also become responsible.

In the past the Police service has taken the lead and undertaken actions to facilitate public events, acting for what they believed to be the public good.  However, a more focused approach, confining Police action to those issues which are part of our core responsibilities and where there is legal authority, is becoming necessary.

This guide is to standardise the police approach to all organised events staged in a public place and on public highways.  It creates an environment where, through consultation and partnership, public events will continue to take place.  A greater awareness of the individual responsibility of the organisers and those of the other agencies involved should emerge, which will ensure a more focused approach by all concerned resulting in a better planned, safer and more resilient event.

If you are planning an event such as a gala, music concert or festival in the first instance you should make contact with the Safety Advisory Group of the Local Authority where the event is to take place. See the link to Safety Advisory Groups.

If you are planning a protest or demonstration, in the first instance please contact the police Force Planning Unit on the email below. If you do not have access to email, you can also contact the Force Planning Unit by dialing 101.

Contact

West Yorkshire Police Planning Unit – [email protected]

 

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