Background
3.Lord Young of Graffham’s October 2010 report ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’ followed a cross-Whitehall review of the operation of health and safety laws and the growth of the compensation culture.
4.The report made a number of recommendations, about the compensation culture, low hazard workplaces, raising standards, insurance, education, health and safety legislation and local authorities.
5.Lord Young’s recommendations with regard to local authorities and health and safety, were as follows:
Officials who ban events on health and safety grounds should put their reasons in writing.
Enable citizens to have a route for redress where they want to challenge local officials’ decisions. Local authorities will conduct an internal review of all refusals on the grounds of health and safety.
Citizens should be able to refer unfair decisions to the Ombudsman, and a fast track process should be implemented to ensure that decisions can be overturned within two weeks. If appropriate, the Ombudsman may award damages where it is not possible to reinstate an event. If the Ombudsman’s role requires further strengthening, then legislation should be considered.
6.The Government accepted the recommendations of the report. The Department of Communities and Local Government’s Business Plan stated that the Department would introduce legislation to allow the public to hold councils to account for cancellation or banning of events on health and safety grounds so that local authorities conduct an internal review of all refusals on the grounds of health and safety, and officials who ban events on health and safety grounds should put their reasons in writing.
7.The Act makes provision for this commitment.
