Decision details
Bath Christmas Market
Decision Maker: Director Environment
Decision status: Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Purpose:
Following Cabinet Report E3280, a decision on
whether to scale back the Bath Christmas Market plans, or cancel
the event was delegated to the Director of Place Management in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children & Young
People, Communities & Culture, SAGE and the Director of Public
Health.
The rationale would be based on a decision-making framework
incorporating Covid-19 related indicators, national guidance on
Covid-19 restrictions and risk mitigation measures. Decision dates
will be aligned with financial milestones. This process aims to
reduce both risk to public health and pressure on council
budgets.
Decision:
The Director of Place Management, based on the
evidence available and the overall risks outlined in the Risk
Matrix (Appendix A) and the lack of suitable control measures being
available, has made the decision to re-shape the council’s
plans for the Bath Christmas Market 2021.
Following agreement with Visit West, Bath Business Improvement
District, SouthGate and Milsom Place, the council will work with
these partner organisations to support the B&NES visitor,
hospitality and retail economy and promote Bath at Christmas,
through a series of activities and events, including:
• An illumination trail of the iconic and historic buildings
of Bath
• A number of festive stalls in Kingston Parade and Abbey
Green
• A Victorian carousel ride outside the Roman Baths
• Street entertainment and carol singing
• A virtual Christmas Market
• Support for the Independent Artisan Market in Queen
Square
subject to appropriate budget being allocated, procurement of
suppliers and with the agreement of our partner organisations and
Cabinet Member support.
There were no specific issues raised by the Director of Public
Health, in relation to public health considerations, in taking this
decision.
This will be subject to further Gateway Decision process, as
outlined in the Cabinet Report E3280.
Alternative options considered:
Risk considerations
Whilst we had a lot of interest from traders to occupy chalets to
enable us to run the Event, challenges with supplier confidence in
being able to fulfil contracts to deliver the Bath Christmas Market
placed significant health & safety and financial risks on the
council
The full Bath Christmas Market is a huge logistical operation
attracting 400,000 visitors, including many coach parties, it
requires:
• 50 contractor staff to set up, run and manage the
event
• 30 professional accredited security guards (10 overnight
guards)
• 4 medics
• 27 coach marshals
We went out to tender with a detailed and comprehensive
specification of what was needed to run the market. To help
companies prepare bids, they were advised that they could
sub-contract the part of the contract that they were unable to
perform themselves.
There was one response only to this tender, and this was
non-compliant as it did not contain mandatory information. We know
that 38 other companies had viewed the tender documents but not
responded. There had been clarification questions from companies
during the process and comments had been made about the nature of
the requirements and in particular the availability of suitably
trained and qualified security staff in the current
marketplace.
We were also advised that the market for security staff was
depleted due to staff finding jobs in other sectors, following
cancellation of many festivals and events over the last 18 months,
forcing people to seek alternative employment, with many not
returning to the industry or not being able to work in the UK
following its exit from the European Union. The Christmas Market
requires specific experienced staff tailored to the event, to
ensure the safety of the public is always maintained.
Additionally, the demands for equipment and infrastructure exceeds
supply. Event organisers are seeing shortages of vital equipment
across the sector. In some cases, only 25% of the requested kit and
equipment is available and companies are manufacturing from new to
fulfil orders.
The safety of residents, visitors, traders and contractors is at
the forefront of the decision to re-shape this year’s Bath at
Christmas offer, as well as the rising costs of suppliers which
would put extra strain on the Council’s resources to deliver
without compromising the quality and above all, safety, of the
event.
Public Health considerations based on the decision-making framework
incorporating Covid-19 related indicators, national guidance on
Covid-19 restrictions and risk mitigation measures as outlined in
Appendix six of the Cabinet Report E3280; detailed below:
1. There is no significant and sustained increase in local Covid-19
related hospitalisations and death rate, with consideration to the
below, in the run up to the event.
a. Case detection rates in the over 60s.
b. Pressure on the NHS, including current and projected
occupancy.
c. Covid-19 death rate; and
d. Identification of new variants (some new variants may cause
vaccine inefficiency)
2. Local and national modelling of future pandemic waves and impact
on the NHS is considered
3. The minimum national Covid-19 measures can be met, including
social distancing, hand hygiene, enhanced cleaning, and the wearing
of face coverings
4. Vaccination rates in the likely target audience for the event
are considered. Higher rates supporting a lower risk for that
target audience
5. Legislation restrictions at the time of the event are
considered. Does the legislation allow such mass gatherings to take
place irrespective of the other framework principles?
Decisions to determine the continuation, scaling back or cancelling
of the Bath Christmas market will be made at key gateway points in
the planning process. Principles 1 to 5 will be considered at each
point on the dates shown below but may be flexed to reflect any
significant changes in the national context.
Gateway 3 – there are no significant changes to the national
public health context.
Measure - Funding and Finance
Financial risk monitoring will be carried out before each risk
phase increases. The risk phases increase as exposure to revenue
loss increases.
A comprehensive Risk Assessment has been carried out on the
decision, attached at Appendix A, which was evaluated on:
A. Infrastructure and Equipment
A1. Contractors and Contract fulfilment
A2. Finance (B&NS Council event specific)
A3. Economic impact (Retail, Hospitality, Accommodation and
Travel)
B Overall risk assessment
Publication date: 18/11/2021
Date of decision: 02/11/2021