Carnival to go ahead as extra £1m funding found

Notting Hill Carnival is now set to go ahead after nearly £1m of extra funding has been provided.

This year's event, to be held over the August bank holiday weekend in west London, had been at risk after a review had identified "critical public safety concerns" around crowd safety that needed additional funding.

City Hall, and the councils of Royal Borough Of Kensington & Chelsea and City of Westminster, have now provided that extra money.

In a statement, Carnival organisers said: "Although this support comes just weeks before the event, it is a much-needed and welcome commitment."

Despite the last-minute funding, the Metropolitan Police said crowd safety remained an "ongoing concern".

Dep Ass Commissioner Matt Ward said: "We welcome the news that some additional funding has now been secured.

"However, we must acknowledge that with just six weeks to go a lot of hard work is still required to mitigate all of the risks identified."

Mr Ward, who also oversees policing for the event, said they could be "confident the carnival would be safer" following the extra funding, but added it was important that the organisers "continued to work with the partnership and emergency services to consider and take all possible steps to keep attendees safe".

As revealed exclusively by BBC London, organisers had written to the government in recent weeks to ask for extra money to pay for crowd management.

The government said it would respond to the request "in due course", but funding has not been offered.

The funding from City Hall and two local councils has been given on the understanding it is for this year only.

Deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Kim Taylor-Smith, said it was providing the additional funding because the government had "not yet indicated any support is forthcoming".

"This council is now facing significant funding pressures over the next three years, with budget gaps of around £80 million.

"So, we have to be really clear that this is additional funding for this year only."

He called on the government to "recognise the carnival's importance to the community", and asked it to support it financially in the future.

BBC London's political editor Karl Mercer said it was clear the last-minute funding did not provide a long-term solution for the event.

He said the organisers, City Hall and the two local councils had gone to central government to seek extra help to keep Carnival safe but as they did not get it, they have had to stump up the money themselves.

"While they've all publicly welcomed the fact that Carnival is going ahead this year, behind the scenes there is said to be disappointment and frustration that government did not find the money," he said.

"It means we could very well be facing a similar row ahead of next year's event when it comes to the question of who pays to keep Europe's biggest street festival safe and secure for those who go."

The chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, said he was "delighted" by the funding and that the carnival would go ahead.

He said: "We remain fully capable of delivering the critical safety and operational measures required.

"We are working closely with carnivalists, partners and suppliers to ensure a safe, spectacular, and successful Carnival."

He added: "This support reinforces the importance of Notting Hill Carnival as a cultural institution—central to London's identity and to the nation's creative and economic life."

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