Notting Hill Carnival needs fundamental reform and new funding solution to run safely, new report finds
- City Hall Conservatives
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
The cost of Notting Hill Carnival to the taxpayer has increased by 380% since 2000.
The number of arrests at Carnival has increased by 160% and the total number of offences recorded has increased by 203%.
Over the next 5 years, Carnival will cost the taxpayer between £80 million and £100 million.
The current Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has increased City Hall’s share of funding for Notting Hill Carnival by over 1000% since coming into office.
City Hall Conservatives leader Susan Hall AM has today released a comprehensive new report on the future of Notting Hill Carnival. On the Brink: Notting Hill Carnival presents exclusive data revealing dramatic increases in crime at the event and the escalating cost to the taxpayer.
AM Hall puts forward a series of recommendations to give the event the safety and security it needs to run effectively, and the ability to raise revenue for the first time to reduce the cost impact on the Met and the taxpayer. At a time when London’s frontline policing services are being cut, with the capital set to lose 3300 police officers and staff, On The Brink finds that the funding of Carnival is no longer sustainable in its current form.
The report also concludes that the current event organisers do not have the governance structure or the resources required to organise an event on the scale of Carnival, and that the occurrence of a major public safety disaster, such as a Hillsborough-style crush, has only been avoided by chance – not by effective organisation.
Stakeholders have added a growing number of working groups as sticking plasters to try and avoid disaster, with uncertainty around who is legally responsible for each aspect of the event, the report suggests. The current Mayor, Sadiq Khan, insists he has no legal responsibility for the event, yet the 1000% increase in funding he has allocated since 2016 is the only way it has been able to continue.
On The Brink's recommendations include:
The Greater London Authority (GLA) adopting responsibility for the running of Notting Hill Carnival and being recognised as the official organiser.
The creation of a new Notting Hill Carnival Advisory Board, which would include the current organisers, hold public meetings at City Hall and be scrutinised by the London Assembly.
The implementation of a new, permanent funding solution. This could involve ticketing or securing sponsorship and brand partnerships for the event, generating a minimum of £20 million to cover the cost of policing and running the event.
To help safely manage crowd numbers and avoid a mass crush event, the GLA should set a maximum capacity for Carnival and require pre-registration.
If the GLA cannot run the event safely in its current location, and in a way that is financially viable, it should be moved to an alternative site such as Hyde Park, or make use of additional sites or venues to help manage crowds.
The introduction of a new Officer Welfare Plan for those police officers working at Carnival.
Susan Hall AM said, "Notting Hill Carnival is a hugely important event and deserves to succeed – my report is designed to raise awareness of the serious safety issues the event faces in its current form, and put forward recommendations to give the event the security and stability it needs. As my report shows, crime has increased substantially at the event since 2000, alongside a huge increase in the cost to the taxpayer. We must find another way – no other event would be allowed to continue like this.
“At a time when Londoners are facing cuts to essential and frontline policing services because of Sadiq Khan and this Labour government, the Met simply cannot afford to spend over £80 million policing Carnival over the next 5 years. A new permanent funding solution for Carnival would give the event the certainty it needs to run as successfully as possible.”
Read the report now: