Councils have delivered almost £1m of extra funding to enable Notting Hill Carnival to take place as planned this year.
The funding has been provided by the councils of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster, as well as City Hall.
Carnival organisers wrote to the Government in June and warned that the event required additional funding to support crowd management and security measures.
Following the nearly £960,000 joint investment, Chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, expressed gratitude towards the two councils, City Hall and the Metropolitan Police for their contributions to the event, but emphasised that support from the Government is critical to its future.
‘The essential operational funding required to ensure participants can perform and engage safely has historically not been provided directly by either Arts Council England or central Government. This is despite Carnival’s significant cultural importance and its substantial contribution to the UK economy’, he said.
Kensington and Chelsea has also warned that the measures taken will not be sustainable in the long-term.
Deputy Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith, said: ‘Following Government funding proposals, this Council is now facing significant funding pressures over the next three years, with budget gaps of around £80m. So we have to be really clear that this is additional funding for this year only.’
Emphasising the significance of the event, Cllr Taylor-Smith added: ‘We really do hope Government recognises its importance to the community and will lend its support for the future’.
