Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gordon Blair, Audrey Forrest and Paul Kennedy.

Councillor Fiona Howard declared a non-financial interest in this application as her daughter would be providing catering at the festival for the backstage and entertainment staff.  She left the meeting at this point and took no part in the consideration of this application.

Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  In line with recent legislation for Civic Government Hearings, the parties (and any representatives) were given the options for participating in the meeting today.  The options available were by video call, by audio call or by written submission.  For this hearing the Applicant opted to proceed by way of video call and Janeanne Gilchrist joined the meeting by MS Teams along with Daniel Gillespie, Stewart MacLennan, Neil MacKay and Iain MacKinnon.

 

Police Scotland also opted to proceed by way of video call and Superintendent Mark Stirling joined the meeting by MS Teams.

 

The Chair outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of their application.

 

APPLICANT

 

Ms Gilchrist advised that the Tiree Music Festival (TMF) was a long-established community event and that extensive event management experience existed within the organising team.  She advised that robust planning, safety systems, and multi-agency working was in place.  She pointed out that the TMF had operated successfully for many years with strong community support.  She advised that the organisers considered the event could operate safely without a dedicated on-site Police presence, as it would be supported by security and safety planning in line with the Purple Guide.

 

She acknowledged the risk assessment carried out by Police Scotland and said that many mitigations against potential risk could be delivered by the TMF team.  She said that TMF were not opposed to Police Scotland carrying out their normal duties on the island of Tiree alongside the event, but they could not see why an additional 6 Police Officers were necessary and that they did not accept that these additional Officers should be privately funded from the TMF event.

 

QUESTIONS FROM POLICE SCOTLAND

 

Superintendent Mark Stirling confirmed he had no questions.

 

POLICE SCOTLAND

 

Superintendent Stirling said that he was the Senior Officer for Operations and was responsible for safe policing across events, public safety and mitigation of risks.  He advised that Police Scotland required a dedicated police presence at this festival.  He advised that he was confused and disappointed that this matter had not been able to be resolved before coming before the Committee today.

 

He noted that the TMF Committee no longer believed there was a requirement for a dedicated Police presence at the event, which had been provided in the past.  Key points made included:

 

·       The island normally had a very limited police presence with only one Police Officer and not 24/7.

·       The TMF was a good festival but brought with it an enhanced risk.

·       The event significantly would increase the population on Tiree (approx. 2,500 attendees). The campsite area would require the same level of policing as a town.

·       Past incidents, including serious assaults, domestic abuse and evacuation due to weather, demonstrated risk.

·       Without dedicated officers, Police Scotland could not meet their obligations under the Civil Contingencies Act

·       Emergency response from the mainland would be delayed and unreliable.

·       Counter-terrorism and public safety risks, while low in likelihood, must still be planned for.

·       Private security staff did not have police powers (e.g. arrest, detention, use of force).

·       Police required a minimum of 6 dedicated officers (including supervision) for the event to be considered safe.

 

He advised that from his experience he was not content that this event would be safe without a dedicated Police presence and if no agreement was reached in this respect, Police Scotland requested refusal of the application.

 

QUESTIONS FROM APPLICANT

 

Various questions were asked by Ms Gilchrist, Mr MacKay and Mr Gillespie and the following key issues were raised:

 

·       Dispute over necessity of dedicated police presence.

·       Questioning increased policing costs in recent years.

·       Concerns about fairness compared to other island events.

·       Reference to the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and potential geographic disadvantage.

·       Challenge to aspects of Police Scotland’s account of the 2023 evacuation.

 

Superintendent Stirling responded by advising that dedicated Officers were required following the risk assessment carried out.  He said that the charging policy for events was standard across Scotland.  He advised that costs should not fall on the public purse for a commercial/community event.  He said that geography, in this case, an island location, significantly affected the response capability of Police Scotland. 

 

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

 

Councillor Green referred to the number of Police Officers within “L” Division and population figures for West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute.  Looking at the raw data from Police Scotland figures he sought and received agreement from Superintendent Stirling that 2,500 would require around 8 Officers for that size of settlement.  Superintendent Stirling confirmed that the bare minimum required for the event would be 6 Police Officers

 

Councillor Green sought and received confirmation from Superintendent Stirling that in exceptional circumstances Police leave could be cancelled or refused.

 

Councillor Kain sought and received agreement from Ms Gilchrist that it was the case that there was a certain degree of self-policing within an island community and that during events the community policed itself.  Ms Gilchrist also agreed that there were a higher proportion of retired Police Officers living on islands and that proportionally there were fewer incidents on islands.

 

Councillor Kain suggested that the numbers required by Police Scotland were more than excessive due to the history of the festival and the island.  Superintendent Stirling advised that it came down to public safety.  Councillor Kain commented that these numbers seemed excessive and suggested that they would be more applicable for an urban community or a gang fight.

 

Councillor Amanda Hampsey referred to the 2023 evacuation and asked Superintendent Stirling if this had been led by Police Scotland.  Superintendent Stirling advised that he did not have the debrief to hand.  He advised that there would have been a role for the Police in terms of co-ordination with other emergency services and overseeing.  He said he was not being dismissive of the work carried out by the TMF Team.  He advised that they did an excellent job with Police Scotland working in the background as co-ordinators.

 

Councillor Amanda Hampsey advised of being at that event  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.