MD1124 Pride in London 2013-17

London is one of the most important cities in the world for the LGBT community who make a significant contribution to the capital’s economy and dynamism. The Pride events are an important opportunity to showcase London’s strengths for LGBT-focussed tourism provided there is a longer-term approach to develop them into world-class celebrations that have the support of the majority of the community in London and visitors from the rest of the UK and around the world.

Pride in London is the UK’s largest LGBT event with a typical annual attendance over previous years’ events of around 800,000. Audience survey research by ICM commissioned by the GLA showed that approximated ‘extra’ spending from the events in 2011 totaled just under £32m; up from £28m the previous year (based on an estimated attendance of one million people in 2010 and 2011). This year London hosted WorldPride 2012 just before the London Olympic and Paralympic Games and during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. However, the event had to go ahead on a smaller scale than originally planned based on an assessment by agencies and other partners of the provisions the event organiser had in place to ensure a safe event.

On 24 October 2012 the Mayor of London published an invitation to non-profit community based organisations to submit expressions of interest in the use of GLA funding as a contribution to the development and running of Pride in London over a period of up to five years from 2013 under a grant agreement worth up to £500,000. Waiving the fee to use Trafalgar Square and assistance from a GLA events officer would bring total support to around £650,000.

The aim is that with a longer-term GLA support LLCP will be able to run and sustain the Pride events in London for the foreseeable future. Pride in London makes an important contribution to the economy and businesses in London.

In previous years the overall cost to deliver these events was in excess of £300,000 per annum. It is therefore expected that the majority of LLCP’s costs would need to be met through a combination of commercial sponsorship, concessions and merchandising revenue and with the support of other public sector funders.

The commitment from the GLA to provide the larger share of the initial funding required over the next five years will provide a strong basis to LLCP from which to secure other financial backing. LLCP will be required to develop and deliver a business plan aimed at securing more of its core operating costs from a wide range of commercial and non-commercial revenue sources incrementally over this period.

Three organisations submitted expressions of interest by the deadline of Friday 9 November, using a proforma template with a standard set of questions. They were sifted and shortlisted using the following published criteria:

• Evidence of probity in business
• Relevant knowledge, experience, and capacity in terms of quality assurance systems
• Professional, technical and managerial capability
• Stakeholder engagement with LGBT community
• Relevant knowledge, experience, and capacity in terms of equal opportunities legislation

The shortlist of organisations were selected through marking each of the above criteria from 0 to 5, with a minimum score of 3 required against each for an organisation to be shortlisted and invited to the proposal stage. All three Expressions were sent an Invitation to Submit Proposals on Wednesday 14 November and submitted proposals on Wednesday 12 December. All three organisations were invited to interviews on Wednesday 19 December resulting in London LGBT+ Community Pride (LLCP) being chosen as the winning organisation.

a) Links to strategies and Strategic Plan

This proposal meets a number of the Mayor’s strategic priorities:

• Developing world-class events to promote London culturally and socially.
• Creating equal Life Chances for All, notably ensuring inclusive engagement with London's excluded communities informs the development and delivery of all GLA strategies, plans and programmes.
• Promoting economic development in London and specifically the opportunities for the development of LGBT focused tourism promotion.

b) Impact assessments and Consultation

Previous parade and event organisers have engaged with the LGBT community over the past seven years. LLCP will be required to continue this engagement to ensure it builds on the community’s support for the ambition to develop a world-class, large-scale, free event in Central London celebrating London’s LGBT community.

As well as working with the GLA, LLCP will be required to regularly brief and consult with agencies engaged in the delivery of the programme over 2013-17 to ensure the staging of appropriate, safe and well-managed events. These agencies will include Westminster City Council, TfL and the Metropolitan Police.

c) Risk

There will be approximately six months from any award of funding to staging the 2013 Pride in London event. This will challenge LLCP in terms of the timescales that are usually applied in planning and marketing a large-scale event, but also that are needed to develop new organisational capabilities, including financing. A more detailed assessment of these risks and proposed responses is set out in the paragraphs below.

Financial

It is proposed that the amount of GLA funding across each of the five years would be applied with a degree of flexibility that is proportionate to these challenges. The aim of this funding approach should be for LLCP to build sufficient reserves and secure other sources of revenue over the five years to be able to finance most or all of the essential costs of staging the events for the following year.

The exact requirements for each year would be determined from LLCP providing a comprehensive event scope and budget differentiating essential infrastructure and services from optional enhancements and additions that could be funded from commercial sponsorship. After the staging of each year’s event the GLA and successful bidder would agree a settlement of funding for the following year, alongside an assessment of the net financial position after all income and expenditure had been considered. For the purposes of illustrating and informing the discussion of this report, an example would be to provide up to £150,000 for the first year’s event, followed by between £70,000 and £100,000 each year thereafter.

For the purposes of ensuring the probity and integrity of GLA funding, the grant would be provided as restricted funds that LLCP will need to ring-fence from other income and apply to specific and identified essential costs within the event budget.

Project management

LLCP will need to demonstrate its experience of managing similar events in terms of scale and purpose. It will be essential for the organisation to provide a dedicated events or project management resource to support the planning of the event, contracts with suppliers and sponsors, and relationships with key stakeholders and agencies.

It is proposed that the GLA will provide in-kind support from the Events for London team to assist and oversee LLCP’s delivery of these aspects. This will also include ensuring that the production of the elements of the event taking place at Trafalgar Square adheres to the GLA’s premises license.

LLCP will own and therefore, be responsible for staging appropriate, safe and well managed Pride events in London. This will require managing the types of risk associated with the design, delivery and management of major outdoor events, including liability for public safety where infrastructure or content is provided by others.

Marketing and engagement

Pride has a strong significance as a celebration of the LGBT community. It is therefore essential that the community is engaged effectively in creating a vision for the future of Pride in London, and that the Event Organiser draws on the strengths and lessons learnt from previous years’ events. The Event Organiser will also be expected to work with the GLA and London & Partners to identify opportunities to market the events as part of a broader strategy of promoting London’s cultural and tourism offer to relevant audiences.

Approval is being sought for up to £500,000 of GLA funding to be provided as a grant over the period 2012/13 to 2017/18 to the successful delivery organisation, London LGBT Community Pride (LLCP), as a contribution to the costs of developing and delivering an annual Pride event over five years 2013 to 2017. The grant will be subject to a funding agreement between the GLA and LLCP.

Over the last three years £100,000 per annum has been allocated for Pride from the Events for London budget; however the funding may be disproportionately split over the period 2013 - 2017, with exact annual allocations yet to be determined.

Should a proportion of the grant be paid in the 2012/13 financial year this will need to be met from available under spends in the 2012/13 Events for London Programme Budget. Future budget provision will need to be adjusted to ensure that over the period of the grant agreement the maximum grant funding does not exceed £500,000.

The 2013-14 funding allocation will be met from the 2013-14 Events for London Programme budget, with funding for future years being subject to the project prioritisation exercise that forms part of the annual budget process.

Over the lifetime of the proposed agreement, the GLA will also provide in-kind support in the form of officer time and waive the fee for the use of Trafalgar Square. The value of this in-kind support is estimated to be up the value of £150,000, thus making the total estimated value of support provided by the GLA for this project to £650,000 (cash & in-kind).

All appropriate budget adjustments and virements will be made.

Any changes to this proposal, including budgetary implications will be subject to further approval via Authority’s decision-making process.

The London Engagement Team within the External Affairs Directorate will be responsible for managing all the GLA’s activities relating to this project and ensure compliance with the Authority’s Financial Regulations, Contract & Funding Code and the GLA Funding Agreement Toolkit.

Section 30 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the ‘Act’) allows the Mayor, acting on behalf of the GLA (Authority), and after appropriate consultation, to do anything which the Mayor considers will further the promotion of the economic and social development of Greater London and the improvement of the environment within Greater London. Paragraph 1 above indicates that the relevant purpose in this case is the promotion of economic development and wealth creation and social development in Greater London.

Section 32 of the Act provides that the power under section 30 is exercisable only after consultation with such bodies or persons as the Authority considers appropriate in the particular case. Paragraph 2(b) above notes the consultation set to take place as a result of this decision.

Section 33 of the Act requires the Authority, when exercising a section 30 power, to make appropriate arrangements with a view to securing that there is due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people.

If the delegation proposed in this Mayoral Decision (MD) is approved, award of a funding agreement and the award of a services agreement respectively with the approval of Director of Resources may occur without need for further MD. Under Section 38 (1) of the Act says “any function exercisable on behalf of the Authority by the Mayor shall also be exercisable on behalf of the bodies or persons specified in subsection (2) below, if or to the extent that the Mayor so authorises, whether generally or specially, and subject to any conditions imposed by the Mayor.” Section 38(2) goes on further to state that “those bodies and persons are- (a) the Deputy Mayor, (b) any member of staff of the Authority”.

Paragraph 1 above indicates that the contribution of £500,000 to the successful event Pride delivery organisation will amount to the provision of funding and not a payment for services rendered. On the basis that this payment is to be funding, as opposed to the procurement of services, the Contracts and Funding Code (the ‘Code’) requires the Authority ensure that the funding is distributed fairly, transparently and in accordance with the GLA’s equalities obligations. The Code also requires the Authority to demonstrate value for money in the allocation of this funding. The relevant officers should liaise with TfL Legal to ensure that a funding agreement is put in place to govern the grant of this funding to the successful Pride event delivery organisation prior to any payment being made.

Where required, TfL Legal may be instructed to advise on or draft contract documents that will apply to the funding and service.