Mathew Street
LIVERPOOL council leader Warren Bradley last night spoke of a “fundamental problem” with the city’s Culture Company as the fall-out over the cancellation of the city’s Mathew Street festival continued.
Cllr Bradley also revealed disciplinary procedures had been started over the collapse of the event and interviews as part of that process had already been carried out.
An official announcement on whether the festival can be rescued will be made after the Culture Company board meets this morning.
But last night a source close to Merseyside Police told the Daily Post the council had failed to address health and safety problems adequately and it was too late to rescue the outdoor elements of the festival.
It also emerged that an emergency council meeting has been called to probe the Mathew Street cancellation, where Labour councillors will call for a QC to independently investigate the origins of the fiasco.
Cllr Bradley said that he wanted to see what the internal investigation led by council chief executive Colin Hilton threw up before going to the expense of bringing in a QC.
But Labour’s deputy leader Paul Brant said an independent inquiry was needed to ensure that lessons were learnt for the future.
Last night, a city source said: “Officers were handed the revised plan and they could not approve it, they had no choice. It was a resounding no. It didn’t offer any real solutions to the health and safety problems.
“It didn’t seem like it had been thought through properly. It was as though the council always expected them to say no and then the finger could be pointed at the police service.
“At least the council would then be able to turn round and say they had tried.
“As far as the police are concerned, there is no way the Mathew Street Festival can go ahead officially, it is too late.
“No rescue plan is going to be sufficient to cover the ground that has already been lost in the last few months.
“There will be a police operation over the weekend, there will have to be.
“The policing plans will carry on largely as it has before. Officers organising it are having to press ahead regardless of what the council have to say because it is so late in the day.”
Cllr Bradley said he would not comment on the source’s claims but added: “I am not going to respond to that until I have spoken to the culture board tomorrow.
“From the dialogue we have had with the police that’s certainly not the case.”
When it was put to him that, as early as last November, Cllr Mike Storey, executive member for regeneration, had raised concerns that stages might have to be moved for the event, he said: “We continually ask about festivals within briefing meetings.
“If an officer of the Culture Company tells us there’s not a problem then what do you want us to do?
“We have never been told there was a problem with health and safety by the officers of the Culture Company.
“There seems to be a fundamental problem with the Culture Company.”
He said an independent officer would now remain within the Culture Company to give independent analysis in the run up to events before they were officially signed off.
“It has happened once but it will never happen again.”
But Cllr Brant said: “I think the police are right to say this could and should have been sorted out a long time in advance.”
He said he was “astonished” the administration was surprised by the problems when Cllr Storey had raised concerns in November.
“It is essential we have an independent investigation, and that’s so that we learn the lessons from this for delivering large scale events in 2008,” he added.
A council spokesman said: “We are working very closely with Merseyside Police on a range of options for the Mathew Street Festival, and this is ongoing. We are at one with Merseyside Police in placing public safety as our number one priority, and making sure the plans minimise the risk to visitors to the city centre.”
