The city council's leader said the scale of visitor numbers had been "significant" and learnings would be taken from the day
Leader of Liverpool City Council Liam Robinson, North West Ambulance Service's Dave Kitchin, Merseyside Police's Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims and Nick Searle, chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
Leader of Liverpool City Council Liam Robinson, North West Ambulance Service's Dave Kitchin, Merseyside Police's Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims and Nick Searle, chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
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Liverpool Council will review road closures for future major parades around the city and will push the government for further powers to ban the use of smoke bombs and flares, its leader has confirmed. Cllr Liam Robinson said he was pleased an independent report into last May’s celebrations across the city were considered to be well planned but accepted some improvements could be made.
Around 1.2m people descended on Liverpool last summer to commemorate the Reds clinching the Premier League title. An independent assessment was conducted into how the event was managed but did not look into the Water Street horror that followed after its conclusion.
Paul Doyle, 54, of Burghill Road in West Derby, was jailed for 21 years and six months last year after he admitted a total of 31 charges relating to the day in question. More than 100 pedestrians were injured after he ploughed his Ford Galaxy into crowds of supporters.
Speaking to the ECHO as the report was published, Cllr Robinson said he would share the findings with ministers in a bid to secure additional powers for local authorities. The Labour group chief said while the number of people who came to Liverpool was “very significant” officials would never have been able to forecast those huge numbers without “wonderful hindsight.”
A 65-page assessment was compiled to summarise the events of the victory parade and learnings from the event. It said what was planned as a “city celebration” took place with “an international attendance” and makes a series of recommendations regarding future events.
This includes potentially shortening any proposed parade routes and challenging the government to tighten control around the use of smoke [bombs] and flares. Cllr Robinson said: “It does give us some good detail around what worked but also some improvement and recommendations for the future so I think one of the things that is helpful for us to hear is that he feels it was a well planned, well organised and operated parade on the day in question.
“I think equally as well, he does say, within the report, he’s very clear about this, that if the opportunity for another parade, celebration, big event in the city arises, we can do it and we should do it again.” While the report does not deal with the events after 6pm on Water Street, the council chief said road closures would be reassessed for any future events.
Liverpool FC Premier League Champions parade. Photo by Colin Lane
Liverpool FC Premier League Champions parade. Photo by Colin Lane(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
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He said: “The management of road closures and the bubble around the vehicles is clearly discussed in the report. In terms of Dale Street, obviously we’ve never shut it previously for a parade.
“We’ve always got to remember that Paul Doyle actually decided to follow an ambulance that had been allowed to pass through because it was reacting to an emergency event. So he deliberately, wantonly drove round the restrictions that were put in place.
“Any future parades will review some of the road closures and the way we look at that, just to make sure we turn that further learning. Because we know that while overall the parade itself operates really well, there are those pinch point locations we’ve got to look at as well.”
Cllr Robinson said police have already said for future parades, an existing route would be used again, but some improvements could be made at areas around the Jolly Miller in West Derby. He added how report author and safety expert Eric Stuart identified areas where councils like Liverpool needed greater backing from government.
Cllr Robinson said: “One is around scaffolding, because quite clearly, with the number of people that came to the city, with the understandable enthusiasm of people wanting to get the best view, lots of people were climbing on the scaffolding structures. At the moment, local authorities like ourselves don’t have the power to compel building owners either to make scaffolding or buildings safe or even have dangerous scaffolding removed.
“We are going to be forwarding a whole report to the Home Secretary and it is one of the things we’re going to ask the government to consider because that would be very useful for ourselves as a city for a future event, but any big city across the UK that could potentially be hosting a similar event.
Leader of Liverpool City Council Liam Robinson
Leader of Liverpool City Council Liam Robinson(Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
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“Another element is around pyrotechnics because there was a large use of people selling smoke bombs from backpacks on the day in question. Now, obviously, that was all done on the basis of people wanting to enjoy themselves and give a jubilant atmosphere.
“However, pyrotechnics like flares, and there’s only one that we’re aware of that was used on the day but smoke bombs, (which) were widely available and purchased, are a risk. There were instances of people getting minor burns from smoke bombs being used.
“Also as well, operationally, on certain parts of the route it made the operation really difficult. It just detracted for everyone’s enjoyment. You couldn’t see the bus, you couldn’t see the players, you couldn’t see the trophy.
“That’s an area where there needs to be clearer, legal powers to ban the use of pyrotechnics, like smoke bombs, and flares, in open spaces, in a way they are already banned in football grounds.”
Cllr Robinson said the council would adopt all the recommendations made by Mr Stuart and would make sure that for any further victory parade the city could “celebrate accordingly,” including the Tour de France. He issued a warning for future attendees from further afield that delays will be inevitable.
He said: “Obviously, with the numbers of people that came to the city, it will always be very challenging how we manage that, but some of the things we will be looking at in particularly is how long-distance rail operators are of involved and how we get the message to people that if you are coming from a long way away, you’ve got to expect that this will lead to long delays and you’ll have to queue for a long period of time. You will have to plan in a lot of detailed and rigorous ways, and how we give people better real-time information around all of that.”
The city chief also paid tribute to the vast majority of people who came to celebrate with the team bus for how they conducted themselves on the day. He said: “When we have effectively up to 1.2m people coming to an event of this nature and only five arrests, none for drunk and disorder, that speaks volumes about the people of the city and Liverpool Football Club fans and football fans in a more general sense.
“I think there’s a lot to be said about how everyone genuinely came to enjoy themselves. The bits of boisterous behaviour? Yeah, of course there was because people were there to enjoy themselves, but the fact that there’s been that acknowledgement about how well everyone did come to celebrate the event is really good.”