Safety Advisory Group
The City of York Event Safety Advisory Group (SAG) provide advice and guidance regarding event safety to enable events to go ahead successfully in York.
The SAG is a multi-agency group including members from North Yorkshire Police, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and various representatives from City of York Council departments including Highways and Licensing.
Find out about:
- event safety information for organisers
- counter terrorism and events
- security planning
- protecting your event from terrorism
Event safety information for organisers
The SAG promote and encourage high standards of public safety and wellbeing at events held in York.
The SAG have produced the *Event Management Plan Template and Guidance for event organisers which must be read in addition to any legal requirements and government guidance. As part of your planning, we ask that you also refer to The Purple Guide for more advice.
*This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology; request an accessible format.
Counter terrorism and events
City of York Council, North Yorkshire Police and the Counter Terrorism Police North East are working together to provide event organisers with advice and support on how to counter the threat of terrorism when planning an event in the City of York.
The threat from terrorism is real and increasingly unpredictable, with public spaces and crowded areas being an attractive target for a terrorist.
Check the current level from terrorism in the UK from MI5 Security Service.
You must consider what you can do to reduce your risk and mitigate against the impact of a terrorist attack; having effective planning in place can greatly reduce the likelihood of an attack.
We encourage you and your colleagues to register on the Protect UK website for direct alerts on threats, advice and latest guidance.
Get further information to protect your event from terrorism from the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA).
Security planning
You may be familiar with putting together a plan for your event and will know how to address many of the requirements around safety, but you may not be so familiar with security issues and terrorism in particular.
SAG suggest you produce a security plan to address the terrorism threat for your event, taking into account 'attack methodology' and your vulnerabilities.
Key issues your security plan should include (this is not an exhaustive list):
- before the event: how will you advertise it, be careful not to give too much information out that might assist a terrorist in planning an attack - consider what can be included to deter this, we call this deterrence communications, see: Security-minded communications guidance from NPSA
- your site: starting from the approach, including the perimeter and inside where the event is taking place - what is the risk and what can you do to mitigate against it, see: Protecting your assets from NPSA
- communications: 'comms' are key to managing any incident - are yours ‘fit for purpose; it’s not just about how you communicate with your staff but also the public, see: Communication from Protect UK
- staff and volunteer training: free online training to raise awareness and to empower your staff is available, see: ACT E-learn and SCaN E-learn
- first aid: ensure you have trained first aiders with sufficient first aid kits available at your event, consider Public Access Trauma Kits (PAcT) first aid kits and Emergency Grab Bags (EGB) also referred to as crisis response kits - PAcT and EGB kits are strategically distributed across the city centre, contact Make it York for location details
- Purple Guide: referencing the Purple Guide section on keeping events safe and less attractive to terrorists, see: Purple Guide for the Events Industry, from Protect UK
- incident management: the Safety Advisory Group recommend planning for a terrorist incident and may ask you for details of your security plan when considering your event; for examples of how to compete a plan, see: Incident Management from NPSA
- risk assessment: a risk assessment to address the terrorism threat for your event should be completed, see Protect UK for the Risk Assessment Process and Risk Management Process; use their files (in portable document format - PDF) for reference, see: Risk assessment template.pdf and Terrorism risk assessment for small local festival.pdf
Protecting your event from terrorism
Read further information to protect your event from terrorism from:
Martyn’s Law
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, also known as 'Martyn’s Law' received Royal Assent on Thursday 3 April 2025. The Government intends for there to be an implementation period of at least 24 months before the Act comes into force, to enable those responsible for premises and events to have sufficient time to understand their new obligations, and to plan and prepare accordingly.
We recommend that you consult the advice on Martyn's Law and as an event organiser you understand your obligations under the Act.