Datun Here's the (rather lengthy) email Cllr Judith Black sent in response to my complaint about the cancellation. It's clear, I think, that the safety concerns were about the possibility of violent protests against WPUK.
Thank you for your email regarding the cancellation of the Woman’s Place UK booking in the Civic Hall on the 28th September 2018 and apologies for the delay in responding.
Please find below an explanation of the circumstances that arose on that day which resulted in the cancellation of this booking.
On the morning of Friday 28th September 2018, the Council received a large number of complaints regarding an event that was due to take place in the Civic Hall, hosted by Woman's Place UK. Those complaints referred to concerns about the alleged use of controversial and potentially discriminatory language at similar events that had been organised by the group in other parts of the country.
Upon receiving these complaints, officers looked into the event being held and found that the organisers of the event had not been open and honest with the Council regarding their room booking and the nature of the event they were proposing to hold. The booking had been described as a Woman's Peace Event, but there had been no reference during the booking process to there being serious safety concerns which, when discussed with the organiser on the day, they confirmed their events had previously been subject to serious protests and bomb threats. We understand that it was for these reasons that they had not been fully open with us on the nature of the event and why they had purposely not informed attendees of the venue until the day of the meeting.
In light of this information and the large number of complaints received, the council took the view that in the absence of undertaking proper risk, safety and equality assessments, which could not reasonably and responsibly be undertaken within the time available to us, that the Council had no choice but to cancel the booking on the grounds of security and safety.
The Civic Hall is the city’s primary public building and the safety of staff and visitors is our key concern for all events taking place in the building.
In regard to the equality concerns, as you will be aware the council is committed to public sector guidelines on equality and does extensive work towards eliminating harassment and discrimination in Leeds. We must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different communities. It became clear on the day of the proposed event from the number of complaints received, that there were significant concerns regarding the event and its potential negative impact on community relations.
The Council was therefore under a duty to consider whether the holding of this meeting at the Civic Hall, and the impact of that meeting and the views expressed by those attending, would be likely to help promote understanding and tackle prejudice between different communities, or not. It was therefore reasonable for the Council to also take these matters into account in arriving at its decision to cancel the meeting, particularly as an equality impact assessment had not been undertaken and, therefore, the Council could not be reassured that its equality duties could be adhered to.
With the significant security concerns and with our equality duties in mind, and in the absence of relevant security, risk and equality assessments been carried out, council officers had no choice but to cancel this booking.
It is important to stress that had the group making the booking been more open and honest with us, it would have given us more opportunity to work with them to fully consider all security, safety, risk and equality concerns. I would also emphasise that Woman's Place UK are not banned from meeting in Council venues, rather they must ensure that in any future bookings they are open with us on the nature of any events so all of the necessary assessments and preparatory work can be undertaken.
I do hope that this provides you with an explanation why this booking had to be cancelled due to safety concerns.
Regards
Councillor Judith Blake CBE