Contact Surrey County Council to:
If you plan to hold an event in the Tandridge district, whether licensed or non-licensed, like a festival, show or car boot sale, you will need to follow the current government guidance at the time of your event, and consider:
- The timescales for planning your event, ensuring you follow any sector specific guidance issued by the government and/or the relevant sector.
- Whether you need an event risk assessment, an event plan and an additional Covid-19 specific risk assessment addressing restrictions in place at the time of your event.
- Consider any risks posed by holding your event and take out any necessary Public Liability Insurance. Further guidance is available in the Home Office guide.
- What licences you’ll need to run your event.
- What you’ll need to do if your event needs to be cancelled at short notice due to extreme weather or any other reason.
Organising a street party or a sporting event
If you are organising a street party, carnival, procession, or any other community event on the road, you will need to:
- Apply for a Road Closure Order, as soon as possible, ideally 10 weeks in advance.
- Apply to Surrey County Council for a road closure if you are planning a sporting event on a road.
- Send us a traffic plan (if your street is used by through traffic), showing how much of the road will be closed and an alternative route for traffic. We will liaise with the police and Surrey County Council on your behalf. There is no charge for this, but we need at least 10 weeks' notice.
- If you receive permission to close a road, please put up appropriate signs to let road users know of the road closure. We do not provide road signs.
Safety Advisory Group
The Tandridge district's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) advises on safety aspects for public events planned to take place in the district. The group consists of council officers and the emergency services and meets regularly to discuss large scale public events to be held in our parks and open spaces. The SAG requires a minimum of three months’ notice to consider events for more than 1,000 people.
The SAG occasionally considers smaller events, depending on the event and whether it includes things like animal transportation, bouncy castles, catering, generators, events over several days, managed road closures or heavy traffic and music.
Events considered by the SAG would include:
- Agricultural shows.
- Marathons.
- Open air music festivals or concerts.
- Processions.
- Sporting events.
- Trade shows.
We will invite the event organiser to a SAG meeting if we feel the event requires one.
Counter terrorism advice
The Safety Advisory Group is now asking all those involved with events; including organisers, safety officers and anyone acting in any staffing or stewarding roles to follow the advice from our Counter Terrorism Security Advisor:
1. It would be of benefit to all persons responsible in management and running of events to undertake the Act online E learning – This will assist:
- To educate people on current and emerging threat and risk.
- To raise situational awareness and enable informed decision making to save lives.
- To increase the suspicious activity reporting and overall intelligence flow.
- To deter attack planners.
Please read the Security advice for event organisers.
2. In addition to the above and for the same reasons registering on the Protect Website and downloading the App is recommended.
More information is available from ProtectUK.
When completing the pre-event and full event application forms, you will be asked to tick a box to say you have followed this advice and have accessed the App. Please do so.
Alcohol and events
If alcohol sales, or consumption, features as a large part of your event, or there may be a lot of people to manage, the Safety Advisory Group may recommend that you consider employing SIA qualified staff to maintain security and crowd safety.
SIA stands for ‘security industry authority’. They are the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry. Using SIA qualified staff ensures that only fit and proper people deliver the security and manage unexpected situations. As event organisers, you should deliver and meet the standards expected of the regulated private security services.
Event Marshalls
If your event includes road closures, or your traffic management plan includes directing or managing traffic, including access on and off of the highway, the Safety Advisory Group may ask you to consider using people qualified with the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS). This will encourage a higher degree of assurance at your event that vehicle movement is managed safely.
Events in hot weather
Event organisers should ensure that they have plans in place for the safe management of events and mass gatherings and ensure information on safe behaviours is available for attendees during periods of hot weather. All event staff should be familiar with this guidance and your event plans before 1 June each year.
Hot weather can cause some people to become unwell through dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke, and it can exacerbate existing health conditions.
You can reduce the impact of hot weather at events by:
- Identifying hot weather as a potential risk in event risk assessments and ensuring plans are in place to reduce the impact of hot weather.
- Providing adequate drinking water throughout the event in line with potable water and food hygiene plans.
- Having a plan in place to increase shaded areas.
- Planning activities at times of the day when it is cooler such as the morning or evening and advising attendees to stay out of the sun at the hottest time of the day between 11am and 3pm.
- Ensuring good public communications on how to reduce the risk associated with hot weather during the event and ensuring plans are in place to make changes to the event should there be extremely hot weather forecast.
HSE’s guidance on running events safely in Summer
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website has a selection of guidance about running events safely this summer.
Large-scale outdoor events such as festivals, sporting events and concerts are increasingly popular, regularly attracting large crowds of people. HSE’s guidance provides some useful additional advice for organisers to help them run such events safely.
HSE’s website also includes guidance for organisers on how to plan, manage and monitor an event as well as guidance on how to manage crowds safely.
Other useful Links:
Hot weather and health: events and mass gatherings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The UKHSA/Met Office Adverse Weather and Health Plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Bouncy castles and other inflatables
All bouncy castles and other inflatables must comply with the Health and Safety Executive PIPA Regulations and Guidance on ‘Inflatable Play Equipment’ such as castles, slides and domes.
Only employ suitably experienced and trained adult personnel, where the company is responsible for setting up, inspection, operation and supervision of the bouncy castle.
If you are to operate the bouncy castle ensure that you are provided with written instructions about the safe setting up, inspection, operation and supervision of the equipment, and that the name and address of the manufacturer or supplier is clearly marked upon it, along with the ‘manufactured date’. You must also ensure that the Annual Inspection Certificate is available.