MD2984 Pride in London 2023-2027

1.1. This decision form seeks the Mayor’s approval of the Greater London Authority’s (GLA’s) allocation and expenditure of up to £875,000 over a period of up to five years (2023-24 to 2027-28) to provide support for London’s Pride event and wider LGBTQ+ event activities. A Pride march or parade has taken place in London every year for the past 50 years (except for 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19). It is a great celebration of London’s LGBTQ+ community and one of London's highest-profile public events, attracting people from across the capital, the UK and overseas.
1.2. The GLA has powers and duties under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act) to promote wealth creation, economic and social development, and improvement of the environment in Greater London; and to promote tourism to, in and through Greater London.
1.3. Major events such as Pride stimulate London’s economy by being a catalyst for economic regeneration; and creating publicity to increase London’s attractiveness to new visitors and investors, as well as Londoners. They provide a platform to showcase London on an international stage and attract visitors to our vibrant city. They contribute to the London economy in the generation of jobs – one in six jobs in London is in the cultural sector.
1.4. Community events such as Pride celebrate the city’s diversity as its core asset, bringing people together in shared experiences; providing opportunities for social integration; and bringing positive economic and social benefits to London. Cultural events enrich people’s lives, improving their quality of life and general well-being. Free events provide Londoners with access to arts and entertainment, which they may otherwise not be able to experience. They also encourage the fuller participation of London’s communities.
1.5. In 2021, a report by professional services firm Hatch and promotion organisation London & Partners revealed that major events contribute over £600m, on average, to the capital’s economy every year; and that they can be a huge catalyst towards London’s recovery from the pandemic. The report estimated that every visitor to a concert and cultural event generates, on average, £23 to the London economy.
1.6. London is one of the most important cities in the world for the LGBTQ+ community, whose members make a significant contribution to the capital’s economy, society and dynamism. The Pride event and wider LGBTQ+ community events are an important opportunity to showcase London’s strengths for LGBTQ+-focused tourism, being world-class celebrations that have the support of the LGBTQ+ community in London, and of visitors from the rest of the UK and around the world.
1.7. While positive changes have improved the lives of LGBTQ+ people, more needs to be done – involving work with London’s LGBTQ+ community – to bring about societal and cultural change. The Mayor’s commitments to the LGBTQ+ community include zero tolerance of hate crime and homophobia; promoting and protecting London’s cultural assets, clubs and pubs; and improving public health by tackling the rising levels of HIV and breaking down the stigma around mental ill health. The Mayor has also provided funding for the first LGBTQ+ retirement community.
Organisation and funding of Pride
1.8. London LGBT Community Pride C.I.C. (LLCP), a community interest company known as Pride in London, has delivered London’s Pride parade and associated activities since 2013. LLCP has been in receipt of two separate five-year funding packages (2013-17 and 2018-22), each totalling £500,000 from the GLA, approved under MD1124 and MD2251 respectively. The first funding package was openly competed; the second was awarded without competition.
1.9. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pride parade and associated activities were cancelled in 2020 and 2021. Instead, the community organisers, LLCP, delivered digital events celebrating London’s LGBTQ+ community. Notwithstanding the digital events, the organisers of Pride had developed significant plans and secured event infrastructure to deliver the events, which could not then take place. Due to the unprecedented nature of COVID-19’s impact, the GLA supported the work that went into the planning of the events by honouring the previous funding commitment.
1.10. The current five-year funding agreement with LLCP ends following delivery of the 2022 Pride in London event.
1.11. The GLA’s multi-year funding commitment is vitally important, as it confirms its commitment to the event and, importantly, instils the confidence of partner agencies and external sponsors/partners and funders of the event. This commitment also includes event management support and use of Trafalgar Square, both of which are important for a successful event. Broadly speaking, our funding directly leverages a further £1m each year.
1.12. It is proposed that a new funding package, covering a period of up to five years in support the delivery of London Pride events from 2023-24 to 2027-28, will be openly competed in summer 2022, enabling any interested parties the opportunity to bid for this funding.
Community engagement
1.13. While we refer to the LGBTQ+ community as a single community, it is clearly a diverse and broad community who do not all share the same views on key community issues. That said, it is important that London’s Pride parade and associated events represent and engage London’s LGBTQ+ community in the broadest sense. Through our funding agreements, we are committed to supporting the community to deliver safe and inclusive events.
1.14. The views and contribution of our city’s vibrant and diverse LGBTQ+ community are vital to shaping successful London Pride events. To that aim, we have commissioned support to consider how more effective and robust community engagement can be built into the proposed funding agreement for London’s Pride events. It will also take into account points raised within the community about the planning of existing Pride events, and how improvements can be driven via the terms of the funding agreement.
1.15. It is proposed that this study will inform the preparation of our funding agreement, and the key performance indicators for which a community-led event organiser must respond in their delivery of London Pride events. This would be alongside the need to maintain and develop community relationships, and actively consult across the LGBTQ+ community on plans for the London Pride events. The cost for this study is covered within the 2022-23 Pride budget, as approved under MD2251 and this financial year’s budget-setting process.
Other activities
1.16. As noted above, the LGBTQ+ community is diverse and broad. Whilst we encourage the internationally renowned London Pride event to be inclusive, there are some LGBTQ+ communities who are particularly marginalised, including London’s Black LGBTQ+ community, where further engagement and support is required.
1.17. As such, the GLA is proposing to provide funding to support Black Pride. The proposed level of funding to support Black Pride is up to £20,000 annually over a period of up to five years between 2023-24 and 2027-28. This funding will be used to provide support for the delivery of an annual Black Pride event in London, the detail of which is discussed and agreed with the organisers annually. This will be kept under review, and the GLA will work closely with Black Pride should other support be required. This would be subject to a further decision if it could not be accommodated within the overall budget set out in this Mayoral Decision.
1.18. Additionally, the GLA proposes to hold an annual Mayor’s Pride/LGBTQ+ reception to engage directly with key LGBTQ+ stakeholders; build relationships; understand further key issues within the LGBTQ+ community; and seek opportunities to support and engage smaller, community-led events in London. This could include local engagement opportunities, exhibitions or smaller-scale local events. An annual budget allocation of up to £30,000 over a period of up to five years, from 2023-24 to 2027-28, is proposed for this.
Future planning
1.19. This Mayoral Decision seeks approval for potential expenditure post the 2024 Mayoral elections; the maximum total length of the funding agreement would run beyond the current Mayoral term. This is in line with previous five-year funding packages to support Pride in London. A commitment of up to five years supports a community event organiser to develop the event; achieve longer-term community engagement; and foster partnership/sponsorship opportunities that would support the sustainability of the event.
1.20. The lead time needed to plan, or support the planning of, a complex major public event is such that a multi-year funding package provides the event organiser, and statutory agencies, with a level of assurance and ability to plan and develop the event year-on-year in good time. It also supports capacity-building within the organisation. Planning for the following five years would usually commence in year four.
1.21. It is also worth noting that the GLA has supported the delivery of London Pride over all administrations. As such, given the importance of the event to London and the nature of our funding, it seems a low risk that a future Mayor might want to remove funding. Notwithstanding this, appropriate extension and/or termination for convenience rights in favour of the GLA will be included in funding agreements, along with suitably structured milestones, to provide some future flexibility should the GLA reconsider its provision of resources.
1.22. The LGBTQ+ events supported and delivered as part of this programme will undergo regular assessment and review with the GLA’s communities and events teams. This is to identify areas for potential improvement and alignment to mayoral priorities; and areas of community engagement. This includes identifying LGBTQ+ groups and communities with which the GLA does not have a relationship; and areas where stronger connections can start to be developed through the programme.

2.1.    By supporting London’s Pride events, we aim to achieve strategic, community and operational benefits, as well as supporting its governance, with the following objectives:
•    Strategic:
o    build London Pride’s reputation as a leading LGBTQ+ event in London, the UK and beyond – one that is recognised for its excellence, creativity, diversity and inclusion
o    continue to develop a strategic overview that allows Pride to be sustainable and safe 
o    continue to grow the London Pride as a vehicle for additional community engagement, education and entertainment; as a result, the event will serve to enhance London’s reputation as a good place for LGBTQ+ people to visit and live, whilst continuing to campaign for more equality, diversity and protection.
•    Community engagement:
o    maintain and develop community relationships
o    actively consult across the LGBTQ+ community on plans for the Pride event.
•    Operational:
o    organise and deliver the Pride parade in London
o    organise and deliver a programme of entertainment as appropriate; this may include Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Golden Square and Soho (exact locations may be subject to change over the course of the period)
o    ensure regular liaison with, and updates to, key stakeholders including the GLA, the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, the London Ambulance Service, Westminster City Council, etc, including seeking comment and agreement from relevant safety planning groups.
•    Finance, governance and staffing:
o    ensure transparent reporting of Pride in London’s activities
o    demonstrate financial accountability
o    work to actively attract, recruit and retain a diverse volunteer base, at both operational and Board levels – subject to the availability of volunteers appropriately qualified to fulfil vacant roles. 
2.2.    Supporting the Mayor’s LGBTQ+ reception, Black Pride and small community LGBTQ+ event activities will enable direct engagement on LGBTQ+ community issues and ensure the community are engaged on mayoral priorities. 

    Additional benefits
2.3.    The wider benefits of the event, whilst difficult to measure, are:
•    an enhanced positive profile for London, encouraging economic investment and tourism
•    education and increased awareness of other communities in London, encouraging social integration and cohesion
•    increased skills through training, volunteering and employment opportunities
•    increased sense of community through volunteering opportunities and social interaction at the event
•    encouraging Londoners’ sense of pride in their city
•    enjoyment and satisfaction to support the wellbeing of Londoners and improving their health and quality of life; this is particularly applicable to Londoners with limited disposable income, as free events offer access to the arts and entertainment, which they may otherwise not be able to experience. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. 
3.2.    The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage/civil partnership status. The duty involves having appropriate regard to these matters as they apply in the circumstances, including having regard to the need to: remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or is connected to a protected characteristic; take steps to meet the diverse needs of such people; and encourage them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low. This can involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one.
3.3.    London’s Pride event is one of London’s largest cultural events, delivered primarily by London’s LGBTQ+ communities. Community stakeholder groups are engaged in the planning and promotion of the event, ensuring that it is appropriate and representative of the LGBTQ+ community that it promotes. As an LGBTQ+ community and volunteer-delivered event with an international profile, there are limited resources to provide the infrastructure that an event of this scale requires. By providing this funding, the GLA is supporting its safe and successful delivery for the community, for Londoners and for the many national and international visitors who attend.
3.4.    Pride is primarily delivered by, and to engage with, London’s LGBTQ+ communities, including a specific focus to ensure BAME and disabled LGBTQ+ groups are engaged in the event. London’s Pride is also a major international event that is inclusive and aimed at bringing people from different communities together to help foster good inter-community relations. This is achieved through the programme content, and the widespread media coverage and profile it receives. The preparation for Pride involves many outreach programmes in music, arts and education. Applicants for funding as the community organiser must demonstrate their connection to and engagement with London’s LGBTQ+ community more broadly; and the ability to deliver a diverse and representative safe event for all Londoners. 
 

Key risks and issues
4.1. In its strategic role for London, the GLA supports London’s Pride parade and associated activities, as a major event of significant benefit to the city, by providing funding to the community-led organiser to support its operational delivery and community engagement around the event. In doing so, the GLA takes reasonable steps to assist in the mitigation of public safety risks, as far as possible, for this major impact London event; and ensures it represents the wider LGBTQ+ community.
4.2. The table below shows the key risks and corresponding mitigations/responses:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.3.    In approving funding for London Pride and wider LGBTQ+ event activities, this decision links to the following:
•    The GLA commitment to support festivals that form centrepieces in the city’s calendar of events – particularly, in this context, events to celebrate London’s diversity and its LGBTQ+ community. 
•    Recovery mission – Engaging Londoners: ensuring Londoners are informed and equipped to participate in the capital’s recovery, including through mass public engagement, research and community and cultural engagement designed to include those most affected by the pandemic; developing engagement activity that enables Londoners to connect and come together around celebrations, commemorations and opportunities to share in cultural activities and feel united in London life, noting the uncertainty caused by the current context; and continuing to support cultural activities that help Londoners to engage with the cultural and community life of their city.
•    Recovery mission – Building Strong Communities: focusing on hyperlocal, community-led activities and co-productions, with a priority on working with and through Londoners most affected by the pandemic.
•    Recovery mission – High Streets for All: developing the capacity of local authorities and town centre partnerships to work with community groups and the private sector to plan for, safeguard and directly deliver a diverse, resilient and thriving mix of high street and town centre activity within easy reach of all Londoners; promoting existing community and cultural spaces; and promoting cultural engagement.
•    Recovery mission – Helping Londoners into Good Work: supporting Londoners into good jobs with a focus on sectors key to London’s recovery.
•    All of Us – Strategy for Social Integration: using sport, volunteering, arts and culture as powerful tools for social integration; and establishing London’s reputation as a welcoming city for newcomers from other parts of the UK and abroad, with opportunities to feel a strong connection and positive sense of belonging to the city in which they are living.
•    Culture strategy: the Mayor will continue to fund festivals and events with an emphasis on more community involvement, increasing quality, raising London’s profile and increasing volunteering.
•    Inclusive London – the Mayor’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy: celebrating London’s rich diversity; and bringing communities together through a series of high-profile, accessible and inclusive events and campaigns.

Consultation and impact assessments
4.4.    As part of the process to compete for the GLA funding opportunity to support the delivery of a community-led Pride between 2023-24 and 2027-28, we are developing a diverse and representative LGBTQ+ community stakeholder group to consult on what should be included in the competition for the next grant agreement for Pride.
4.5.    The LGBTQ+ community is engaged though consultation meetings about the event. This ongoing community consultation and engagement on the delivery of Pride by the community event organiser will be central to the conditions of the GLA funding agreement. In addition, the GLA’s community engagement team will do further engagement with London’s LGBTQ+ community.
4.6.    Local authorities and statutory agencies – including Westminster City Council, the Metropolitan Police Service, Transport for London, the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and other key stakeholders – are consulted, and the event impact assessed, via the multi-agency planning process (Licensing Operational Safety Planning Groups), and key stakeholder meetings. This is an essential part of the premise licence process.
4.7.    Neighbours on and around Trafalgar Square are consulted regularly and through established quarterly planning meetings, with specific meetings set to discuss plans for Pride.
4.8.    Public correspondence (via the GLA Public Liaison Unit) and market research are considered for future planning where negative comments and improvement suggestions are made and may reasonably be implemented.
4.9.    Data protection legislation is taken into account by the GLA events team when planning and supporting events, with regular consultation with the GLA’s Information Governance team. We have processes in place to deal with data we receive and how we use it. This includes a process to seek approval for use of images taken of audience members and performers at events.

Conflicts of interest
4.10.    There are no known conflicts of interest in relation to those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form and those involved in the delivery of the programme.
 

5.1.    The GLA is looking to enter a five-year funding package to deliver the Pride in London programme, which will be governed by a funding agreement. The proposed funding package is worth up to £625,000 for the five years (£125,000 annually in 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28).
5.2.    The GLA is looking to enter a five-year funding package to support Black Pride, which will be governed by a funding agreement. The proposed funding package is worth up to £100,000 for the five years (£20,000 annually in 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28).
5.3.    The GLA is looking to deliver a Pride reception and support ad-hoc LGBTQ+ community-led small event activity between 2023-24 and 2027-28. The proposed spend is up to £150,000 for the five years (£30,000 annually in 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28).
5.4.    The proposed annual budget breakdown is anticipated as follows:

5.5.    The annual costs of £175,000 will be funded from the planned Pride budget within the Major Events budget provision for 2023-24 to 2027-28. For 2022-23 Pride budget of £175,000 has been approved as part of the 2022-23 budget-setting process; however, future years’ budgets will be subject to the Authority’s annual budget-setting process. Any increases in costs that develop through the risks detailed in section 4.2 are to be approved via a further approval process.
5.6.    In order for the GLA to be satisfied with any future community event organiser’s capacity and financial status to successfully administer the proposed grant award, funding will be subject to: satisfactory due diligence; checks on an annual basis; and mitigations included in the funding agreement to protect the GLA’s financial investment in the programme.
5.7.    Break clauses will be included in the funding agreement, and milestones will be structured to enable the reconsideration of providing funding in future years.
5.8.    The Major Events team within the Strategy and Communications Directorate will manage this programme.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor fall within the exercise of the GLA’s statutory duties to promote tourism to, in and through Greater London; and powers to promote and/or to do anything that is facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, social development within Greater London. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender reassignment, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and marital or civil partnership status) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3.    Officers have indicated that the expenditure proposed amounts to the provision of grant funding as a contribution to related third-party project costs, and not a payment for services to be provided. They must therefore ensure that the proposed funding is disbursed in a fair and transparent manner, in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code; and that a funding agreement is put in place between and executed by the GLA and the successful funding applicants, before any commitment to provide the funding is made. 
6.4    Officers must ensure that: 
•    no commitment is made to the award of funding comprising sums from as yet approved budgets
•    the terms of the proposed funding agreements do not have the effect of fettering the discretion of any successor administration, considering the London elections taking place in May 2024. Accordingly, the officers must ensure that the funding agreements include extension and/or termination for convenience rights in favour of the GLA; and manage the agreement and milestones so as to mitigate risks of abortive expenditure being incurred.
 

7.1.    The project delivery timeline is outlined below: