PFD report

Laura Amy Smallwood · Prevention of Future Deaths report

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Issued 7 Apr 2022•Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Report record

Published report and response evidence

This page connects the concerns raised in this report with statements found in recipients’ published responses. A link shows a clear evidence connection; it does not assign responsibility.

View original report
Concerns
3

Raised in this report

Recipients
1

Named on the report

Responses found
1

Of 1 recipient

Stated actions
0

Described in responses

Recipients and published responses

Source document

Full report text

This is the full text from the original published report.

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Concerns and recipient responses

Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

Concerns raised3

  1. Lack of legal powers to require appointment of an Event Organiser
    Part of recurring concern: Inadequate regulatory oversight of organised public events
  2. Lack of legal powers to grant or refuse permission for events with significant public safety concerns
    Part of recurring concern: Inadequate regulatory oversight of organised public events
  3. Failure to appoint an Event Organiser responsible for whole-event public safety coordination
    Part of recurring concern: Inadequate regulatory oversight of organised public eventsPart of recurring concern: Unclear allocation of safety responsibilities at organised public events
Responses linked to these concerns

Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.

Respondent positions A position is what a recipient says about a concern when it does not describe a specific action.1

  1. Position

    Amending the law would not necessarily prevent rare event tragedies, so further legislation is not considered necessary.

    Stated by Home OfficeNo action considered necessaryThe respondent said that no further action was needed.

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Lack of legal powers to require appointment of an Event Organiser

Wider context from the report

“Those who attend May Day from the Oss organisations, however, represent only a small fraction of the total number of attendees. At inquest, I heard that there is still no one willing to act as an ‘Event Organiser’ for the May Day event as a whole despite repeated requests from the police for this to happen. As a consequence, there is no single point of contact for the police or others and no one who is engaged with the LSAG to look at public safety. I heard in evidence that the current legislative framework does not provide the police or any other agency with powers in law to insist on the appointment of an Event Organiser. Further, neither the police nor any other agency have powers in law to grant or refuse permission to hold an event where there are significant concerns around public safety. I enclose statements from: - Inspector ████████; - PS ████████ - ████████ with counsel’s advice. If these submissions are correct, this gap in legislative oversight is relevant not simply for the May Day festival in Padstow but for events nationally. What is the expectation of government, in terms of the management of public safety, where there is no Event Organiser to engage with a LSAG and other agencies like the police? ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Inadequate regulatory oversight of organised public events.

Open source report

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Lack of legal powers to grant or refuse permission for events with significant public safety concerns

Wider context from the report

“Those who attend May Day from the Oss organisations, however, represent only a small fraction of the total number of attendees. At inquest, I heard that there is still no one willing to act as an ‘Event Organiser’ for the May Day event as a whole despite repeated requests from the police for this to happen. As a consequence, there is no single point of contact for the police or others and no one who is engaged with the LSAG to look at public safety. I heard in evidence that the current legislative framework does not provide the police or any other agency with powers in law to insist on the appointment of an Event Organiser. Further, neither the police nor any other agency have powers in law to grant or refuse permission to hold an event where there are significant concerns around public safety. I enclose statements from: - Inspector ████████; - PS ████████ - ████████ with counsel’s advice. If these submissions are correct, this gap in legislative oversight is relevant not simply for the May Day festival in Padstow but for events nationally. What is the expectation of government, in terms of the management of public safety, where there is no Event Organiser to engage with a LSAG and other agencies like the police? ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Inadequate regulatory oversight of organised public events.

Open source report

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Failure to appoint an Event Organiser responsible for whole-event public safety coordination

Wider context from the report

“Those who attend May Day from the Oss organisations, however, represent only a small fraction of the total number of attendees. At inquest, I heard that there is still no one willing to act as an ‘Event Organiser’ for the May Day event as a whole despite repeated requests from the police for this to happen. As a consequence, there is no single point of contact for the police or others and no one who is engaged with the LSAG to look at public safety. I heard in evidence that the current legislative framework does not provide the police or any other agency with powers in law to insist on the appointment of an Event Organiser. Further, neither the police nor any other agency have powers in law to grant or refuse permission to hold an event where there are significant concerns around public safety. I enclose statements from: - Inspector ████████; - PS ████████ - ████████ with counsel’s advice. If these submissions are correct, this gap in legislative oversight is relevant not simply for the May Day festival in Padstow but for events nationally. What is the expectation of government, in terms of the management of public safety, where there is no Event Organiser to engage with a LSAG and other agencies like the police? ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Inadequate regulatory oversight of organised public events; Unclear allocation of safety responsibilities at organised public events.

Open source report

Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Amending the law would not necessarily prevent rare event tragedies, so further legislation is not considered necessary.

Verbatim wording from the response

“For that reason, we have taken the view that it is better to support and encourage sensible planning and preparation, rather than to mandate every element of it through legislation. The latest public guidance from the Cabinet Office (Organising a voluntary event: a 'can do' guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) is intended to help people planning voluntary events, with advice on the steps that organisers should take.”

Source location

Response from Home Office
Page 3 · response
Published 26 April 2022

Open published response
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Information checked against the published report and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026