Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Stockton's Independent Safety Advisory Group (ISAG)

About ISAG

Stockton Borough Council has established an Independent Safety Advisory Group (ISAG) to provide guidance and specialist advice to Event Planners and Event Organisers in staging their events and helping them understand their individual responsibilities and those of other agencies e.g. Police, Local Authority.

The ISAG comprises of senior officers from all the emergency services (Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance, NHS Trust) and senior officers from Stockton Borough Council (Highways, Traffic Management, Building Control, Environmental Health and Licensing) other relevant organisations are invited to meetings on and ad-hoc basis.

The group is chaired by the Council's Trading Standard's and Licensing Manager and its purpose, terms of reference and roles and responsibilities are detailed in the ISAG Protocol document.

The main principle of the ISAG is to create consistent and coordinated safety processes to oversee and enhance public safety at large public events and gatherings.

Stockton Borough Council's ISAG guidance gives general advice regarding the safety considerations when arranging any type of event. We expect an organiser to complete and retain a written risk assessment for future reference a template risk assessment form.

For many types of event there is a great deal of organising involved which includes considering licensing issues and road closures etc. The ISAG asks for twelve weeks notice of events which are likely to attract more than 500 people.  

Where a licence is required an application must be submitted separately to the licensing authority - Stockton-on-Tees Licensing service. 

Some types of event will require you to attend one of the ISAG meetings to discuss your proposals.  Other smaller events may not require your attendance. **

How the Safety Advisory Group (ISAG) works

• We act as the first point of contact for anyone organising an event to which the public are invited
• We ask that an event organiser completes the events check list  to assess if your events plans need to be submitted to the Safety Advisory Group
• Where required an events application form, together with supporting documentation will need to be submitted to the ISAG
• Ideally we ask that event forms are submitted 12 weeks in advance of an event taking place
• Completed forms will be circulated to all members for assessment and possible action
• Members of Stockton's ISAG provide advice and guidance on their specific areas of responsibility to the event organiser
• If necessary members of ISAG may request a meeting with the event organiser
• The chair of ISAG keeps written records of meetings and ensures actions arising are clearly documented
• In some circumstances some members of ISAG will monitor events to ensure standards are maintained
• ISAG meets a minimum of 4 times a year discuss forthcoming events and to review any problems which might have arisen with past events - meeting dates are listed below

You can find out if the type of event you want to hold needs to be considered by the ISAG by completing a simple event check.

ISAG meeting dates 

The group meets regularly to consider event applications and in particular safety implications associated with an event and provide advice and guidance to event organisers. Dates of the next meetings are as follows:

• Friday 10 June 2011
• Friday 22 July 2011
• Friday 9 September 2011
• Friday 14 October 2011

If you are planning an event you should consider which ISAG meeting would be most appropriate for you to submit your documentation to.

Failure to follow advice from the Safety Advisory Group may affect your Public Liability Insurance, licence permissions and leave you exposed to possible litigation.

** Stockton-on-Tees ISAG is not responsible for giving permission to use Council land or granting licenses for events. If any organisation or community group wishes to use any park or open space that is managed by the Council they should request permission from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's events team.