Review of Marches and Parades In Scotland: Guidance for Scottish Local Authorities

Annex B 'How to' guides for organisers

It may be helpful for your local authority to give organisers a 'how to' guide with the notification form. The purpose of the guide would be to act as a reference manual so organisers could take steps to make sure that their event goes more smoothly and in line with your local authority's expectations. This annex sets out what might feature in a guide but we would leave it to your local authority to decide on the specific content and format of their own guide. The 'how to' guide should provide other information to that shown in your local authority's code of conduct. A 'how to' guide might include the following.

Section 1 - the law

The purpose of this section would be to describe the various legal requirements that organisers should be aware of (see paragraphs 11, 12 and 13 of the guidance).

Section 2 - local licensing

This might set out what insurance and licenses are desirable or needed for organisers to arrange. (See paragraph 14 of the guidance.)

Section 3 - step-by-step guide to organising an event

This section could give organisers a step-by-step guide on what they should take account of when planning their events. These might be issues such as:

• managing crowds;
• insurance arrangements;
• managing vehicles;
• health and safety issues;
• managing waste and hygiene;
• training stewards; and
• planning for unexpected events.

Section 4 - checklist

This section could give organisers a checklist of items before and after the event for them to use along with a timescale by which each item should be carried out.

Section 5 - organisers' risk assessment

This section could tell organisers the circumstances under which they should assess risks and what the assessment is expected to cover. (See paragraph 64 of the guidance and Annex C.)

Section 6 - stewarding

This section could set out what stewarding standards are generally expected of organisers and the training that stewards might need to receive before being put in charge of an event. As a result, this section might use the information from paragraph 116 of the working group's report which highlighted the main areas where training might be offered.

Section 7 - contacts

This section might give organisers a note of the most appropriate contacts at the local authority and who the other essential contacts might be. Useful contacts in the council could include those who give advice on environmental health, road closures, cleaning and licensing. Other useful contacts might include those from the emergency services (the police, the fire brigade and so on), and other main sources of help such as the Red Cross (for first aid).

Section 8 - code of conduct

This could be a brief section to summarise what your code of conduct covers and the standard of behaviour that your local authority expect from those taking part.