Briefing for Elected Members on Marches and Parades

COSLA worked collaboratively with the Scottish Government and Police Scotland through the Action Group on Processions over the course of 2023 and early 2024 to consider the conclusions and recommendations of the report published by Short Life Working Group on Facilitating Peaceful Assemblies.

One of the Action Group’s recommended next steps was for training/briefing packages for local authority officials/elected members to be developed to help inform and share good practice on the responsibility for, and process of, facilitating peaceful processions in Scotland and how the protection of human rights is central to this.

On the back of this recommendation a briefing for Elected Members was developed and endorsed by the Board at its meeting on 22 August. The briefing will be published imminently on the Improvement Service (IS) website as part of an existing collection of resources for Elected Members.

A brief overview of key points from the briefing is provided below:

• Local Authorities and Police Scotland have an obligation to ensure that a peaceful assembly can take place at the time, place and in the manner that the organiser wishes wherever possible.
• There are limited circumstances in which a local authority may prohibit a march/parade from taking place or place special conditions on it.
• Organisers do not have to apply to hold a march, parade or protest. For marches and parades there is a notification process which organisers must follow.
• Good practice shows that the effective use of the 28-day notification period ensures that march organisers can appeal decisions if they need to.
• Elected Members need to understand the legislation that underpins marches, parades and protests and the importance of ensuring human rights legislation is considered.
• It is important for Local Authorities to clearly articulate decisions.