Highland Council provide rationale behind bouncy castle ban
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Highland Council has admitted an impromptu decision to ban bouncy castles across its venues is due to health and safety reasons.
It was reported last week that local business Mascot Madness Entertainment had found out about the protocol after schools began to cancel bookings of its bouncy castles – leaving kids in tears.
The firm’s owners said they had not been warned or given an explanation about the decision last week.
Highland Council's rationale for the ban is health and safety
But now a council spokesman has stated: “The Highland Council has a foreseeable pause on the hiring of inflatables, including bouncy castles, at their premises for health and safety reasons. Inflatables are a much loved addition to local events, however there has been serious incidents in the UK where they have collapsed or blown away in windy conditions.
“The largely unseen body of work which goes into the hire of these inflatables at our premises includes informed and experienced Council officers carrying out thorough risk assessments, safety and quality checks.
“The reality of our wonderful and dynamic landscape is that it’s considerable size, access to some locations and availability of appropriate staff, creates challenges which mean that is not possible to carry out the checks needed, which occur multiple times a year across a vast estate of over 200 schools.
“Therefore, until we have the structures in place to meet these requirements, a regrettable pause will be placed on the hire of inflatables.
“We appreciate and thank our communities continued understanding in this decision to safeguard attendees at our local events. We hope that families will look forward to their upcoming fairs, and enjoy the day with the other activities on offer.”
Mascot Madness Entertainment owners say they are 'deeply disappointed' by Highland Council explanation
But this explanation is not sufficient for Mascot Madness Entertainment, as the owners Danielle and Ally Stewart could see financial ruin if the ban stays in place.
They say that at no point in over 10 years of trading have they seen a health and safety member of staff from Highland Council come out and assess what they are doing.
Responding to Highland Council, Mascot Madness Entertainment said: “We are deeply disappointed at the comments made by Highland Council to the Inverness Courier.
“We feel they are skirting around the issue rather than dealing with it directly. So far nobody from Highland Council has put their name or position to the reply or to the mystery ban.
“If the Highland council have put a foreseeable ban/pause on the hire of inflatables on their premises, in light of this we would like to know when this was decided?
“Who attended the meeting? Who then authorised the ban? And where can we obtain the minutes from this meeting? We were not informed at all.
“We have an impeccable safety record over all our years of operation, our equipment is inspected and certified annually and insured at a great expense.
“We have vast experience in the operation of our inflatables and adhere to strict rules and guidelines making them safe for use.
“Highland Council state that the ban on their premises is for Health and Safety reasons. With this in mind can they please state how many injuries/accidents have been recorded in the accident books kept in each Highland Council facility and if any of these incidents were reported to the Highland Councils health and safety advisors.
“The last known serious incident in UK was in 2019, and now 4 years later this is what the council are basing their ban on.
“Who are the Highland Council’s informed and experienced officers that they speak of in their response? We have never in over 10 years of trading and hiring out inflatables been approached by any health and safety advisor from Highland Council for either a spot check on our inflatables or even an informal chat on how to ensure that we are operating to their own recommended health and safety legislation."
Proposed rational will be "impossible to enforce"
The business also questioned the selectivity of the Highland Council ban, saying that there is currently inflatables on site at Bught Park which is land owned by the council.
Mascot Madness Entertainment added: “To continue trading as a profitable business we would like to know when Highland Council will have the structures that they speak of in place to safeguard health and safety at public events. It would be interesting to know how the council propose to implement these rules when all they speak off are budget cuts and staff shortages.
“The local communities which we serve are fully behind us and have a complete lack of understanding towards this decision and firmly believe as do we that events are still able to go ahead safely with inflatables present.
“The response so far from members of the public is that of shock and astonishment that this decision has been made and firmly believe that many local events will be ruined by this.
“This new ruling seems to be very selective in who it applies to given that at this time there are currently inflatables set up on Bught Park, many council facilities own their own inflatables which they hire to the public and the fact that we have just received an application pack to attend Inverness Highland Games which is held on Highland Council premises.
“This proposed insane ruling will be impossible to enforce and police at any time. Do they also expect to impose this on the many residents within the Highland region who occupy residential council owned properties.
“We are currently fearing for the future of our business, and it also means that kids are missing out again.”
