Section 1 Introduction and information on how we took Sir John Orr's report forward
Introduction
1 The Scottish Ministers are not against the rights of organisations and individuals to continue to organise marches and parades, but they are aware that the effects of marches and parades had been causing considerable concern in some communities. As a result, they asked Sir John Orr, former Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police, to review the arrangements in place for marches and parades. Sir John's report 'Review of Marches and Parades in Scotland' was published in January 2005. You can see his report at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/society/rmpsm-00.asp.
2 Sir John also arranged an attitude survey to make sure that he had views from the wider community. You can find the survey at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/society/rmpsv-00.asp
Guidance for this report
3 The guidance, which you should read with this report, was formally issued by the Scottish Ministers to local authorities on 12 December 2006 under Section 65A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. The guidance sets out the steps local authorities should take when considering whether to prevent processions or place conditions on them when carrying out their functions under Part V and outlines how they should consult community groups. The guidance also comes with a process chart which sets out the main steps that local authorities should take when considering notifications. In summary, the guidance:
- sets out the amended duties and powers given to local authorities in the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006;
- sets out the good practice that we expect them to introduce;
- provides a note of the main decisions they should take along the way towards reaching a decision;
- outlines options for consulting the community and raising awareness;
- summarises what they will be asked to provide for the report which is to be produced for the Scottish Ministers to show that local authorities are putting the new procedures into practice in a way appropriate to their circumstances; and
- provides examples of some standard forms and letters.
4 You can find the guidance and the process chart at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent
The organisations covered by this report
5 This report is mostly relevant to processions organised by large organisations such as the STUC, the Orange Order and so on, but the legal requirements in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, as amended, are relevant to all marches and parades in Scotland. In particular, removing exemptions (formerly section 62(6) of the 1982 Act) means that communities and local authorities will now have a full picture of all processions taking place in their areas.
6 We do not believe this change is difficult to deal with as many of the previously exempt organisations would have already been letting local authorities or the police know of their plans to hold a procession. And, depending on the nature of the event, they would contact them anyway to close a road or apply for a temporary licence (such as a public entertainment licence, a liquor licence, a street traders' licence and so on). As a result, there are processions, such as cavalcades, traditional common ridings and similar festivals, which should be less difficult for local authorities to consider and process.
7 We do not want to add too much paperwork to the process for these events and so local authorities should decide - in line with a system which keeps communities well enough informed - how much of the guidance in this report would be relevant. For example, local authorities may not need to hold a precursory meeting or have a risk assessment carried out by the organiser for these processions.
8 Local authorities may think there is a strong enough case to have some processions automatically excluded from the process for providing notifications. Paragraph 33 of this report and paragraphs 23 to 25 of the guidance for local authorities both provide details of how local authorities can apply for exemptions from the requirements of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.
How we took the Scottish Executive's work on processions forward
9 Sir John's report contains 38 recommendations which came forward following wide-ranging consultation. There was broad support for change and a lot of agreement about the changes that would be necessary. The main focus of the recommendations in Sir John's report is to professionalise and modernise the decision-making process for marches and parades to make sure that they are better run and organised and allow communities and local businesses to be better informed of what is going on in their area. The recommendations in Sir John's report have been taken forward in two ways, through:
- new laws in the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 which amends Part V of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982; and
- other methods (not linked to legislation) taken forward by this working group and approved by Scottish Ministers.
10 To help inform what should be amended in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, the Executive sent out their consultation document 'Supporting Police, Protecting Communities' in February 2005. You can find the consultation document at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/justice/sppcpl-00.asp.
11 You can find the responses to the consultation document at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/06/03105142/51436
12 You can see the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 on the following website. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/s-acts2006a.htm
Our role
13 We were set up on 30 March 2005, and are made up of members from the police and local authorities - Annex D of this report provides a full list of members. The Minister for Justice and officials from the Scottish Executive also met separately with key marching organisations to make sure that they were also involved in the process. We took their views on board and they are contained in this report.
14 Our role was as follows.
We will bring together local government, police authorities and the Scottish Executive to support the recommendations of the Review of Marches and Parades in Scotland and to help develop the legislation needed to put the other recommendations into practice. We will also consider the effect of putting the recommendations into practice and provide advice on these.
Definitions
'Permit to process'
15 Sir John Orr's report often refers to a 'permit to process'. The 'permit to process' is the document which local authorities should give to the organiser of a march or parade setting out some general information and confirming details such as the date, time and route of the procession and any other important information which they want to give.
16 We understand Sir John's intentions but have decided that the term 'permit to process' could be misinterpreted as it could be mistaken to mean 'a licence' to hold a procession. That is not the purpose of the term 'permit' in this context. For that reason it is not appropriate to use that term. In the interests of clarity, we think that the term should be replaced with 'letter of confirmation' and so we use this term in this report rather than 'permit to process'.
Referring to the code of conduct in the letter of confirmation
17 We have provided a space in the standard notification form (see Annex D of the guidance for local authorities) for the organiser to sign a statement that they agree to follow the local authority's code of conduct, if available. This can also be reinforced in the letter of confirmation. If an organiser does not sign the form to agree to follow the code of conduct, that information will be relevant in deciding whether it is appropriate to make an order placing conditions on holding the public procession.
Disrupting the life of the community
18 We provide a description of what this new condition in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 involves in the guidance for local authorities.
Monitoring
19 Recommendation 7 of Sir John's report states that the Scottish Executive should make sure that effective monitoring arrangements are in place to show that local authorities and the police are putting the new procedures into practice in a way appropriate to their circumstances with a regular public report produced.
20 The Scottish Executive have discussed with the Accounts Commission and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and met separately with COSLA to see what procedures might be put in place. Paragraphs 56 to 58 in section 3 of this report briefly set out how the monitoring process will work and paragraph 9 of the Guidance for local authorities outlines the monitoring arrangements that may apply.
You should now move on to read section 2 and section 3 of this report. You should read these sections together as they set out the processes which will apply to processions.