London’s controversial Form 696 has been scrapped

London mayor Sadiq Khan has revealed the Form 696 risk assessment previously required to host events in the city has been scrapped.

Form 696 required event organisers to submit approval 14 days prior to events taking place, and had been in effect since 2005.

It was the subject of a lot of controversy, with artists such as P Money labelling it as racist and specifically designed to target grime events.

“They [police] target grime a lot, they just blame a lot of things on grime. We know they're just trying to shut down grime,” said the MC earlier this year.

Last year the NTIA set up a meeting to debate Form 696 with London authorities, leading to Sadiq Khan to order an official review into it, which took place in September and was co-hosted by Amy Lamé the Night Czar, Justine Simons OBE Deputy Mayor for Culture, and Superintendent Roy Smith from the Met Police.

Last month Giggs (pictured), who has had to cancel London gigs in the past because of Form 696, played a party celebrating the review.

Following the meeting, the Met’s Central Licensing Team also spoke to representatives of local authority licensing managers, Musician’s Union, London Promoter’s Forum, the Institute of Licensing, and various venue owners.

The review judgement has now been announced, and Form 696 has been scrapped, and will be replaced by a new voluntary partnership approach

News on the Met’s website outlines that while the police service believes “there is no doubt that over the last decade a number of serious incidents have been prevented through the effective exchange of information, advice and intelligence between the Met, promoters and venue managers as part of this process,” there is a recognition that “events associated with some genres of music were disproportionately affected by this process”.

Speaking about the decision, Superintendent Roy Smith said: “We have taken the decision to remove the Form 696 and instead develop a new voluntary partnership approach for venues and promoters across London. This will provide an excellent opportunity to share information at a local level and work to identify any enhanced risk to ensure the safety of the public.”

Sadiq Khan said: “Developing a night-time economy that works for everyone is a key priority of mine but it’s also vital that live music events in London take place safely. I called for a review of Form 696 earlier this year because of concerns raised by promoters and artists in the capital that this process was unfairly affecting specific communities and music genres.

“This decision will help London’s night-time economy thrive, ensure the capital is a welcoming place for artists and DJs of all music genres and that Londoners are able to enjoy live music safely.”

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter