IoL partners with Lancashire Constabulary to provide bespoke SAG training

Lancashire Constabulary worked in partnership with the Institute of Licensing to deliver bespoke training regarding Safety Advisory Groups (SAG) to officers from Licensing, Operations Planning and silver commanders.

The training yesterday (6 March 2025) at Hutton was for officers to learn nationally recognised best practices for the planning and partnership working that goes into large scale events and sporting events such as football. We also had several case studies outlining when events have gone wrong.

 The trainer, John Newcombe, has over 20 years’ experience in Licensing, Health & Safety, Environmental Health, Event Management along with establishing and chairing various SAG meetings for some very high-profile events in the UK.

John, said:

“It’s been a real privilege to work with Lancashire Constabulary and partners on their preparation for large events. It was great to field so many questions from such an engaged group of professionals.

“Sometimes it can be difficult to understand exactly why we do SAG’s and who’s responsible for what but hopefully now event planning and preparedness in Lancashire will be on a firmer footing.””

Lancashire Constabulary is thought to be the first Constabulary in the UK that has arranged the training to be bespoke for ourselves and was very well received by delegates.

Paul Adams, IoL Chief Executive said:

“We are pleased to have partnered with Lancashire Constabulary to deliver bespoke event safety training.  Lancashire Constabulary is believed to be the first police force in the country to have bespoke event safety training delivered by the IoL.

“I want to thank Lancashire Constabulary for their valuable partnership with the institute and we look forward to working with them, and others, again in the future.

“The Institute of Licensing is a leader in licensing training nationally and we are proud of this.  As the organisation enters a new phase as part of its growth review, we will be looking to build on this success and further enhance our training offer.”

Superintendent Gary Crowe said:

“This is the first time that any of our staff had received formal training in respect of working with Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs). It was extremely useful for us to hear inputs on the roles and responsibilities of participating agencies and nationally recognised best practice for planning and partnership working.”

If you would like to book bespoke training for your organisation, you can contact the IoL on events@instituteoflicensing.org or you can book individual courses on our website https://iol.instituteoflicensing.org/events.