Cash cut ‘led to Mathew Street fiasco’

Sep 4 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

A MASSIVE cut in the budget for the Mathew Street Festival played a part in its cancellation, it was claimed last night.

In 2006, £680,000 was pent on the festival, but this year just £400,000 was set aside for the event by the city council.

Last night, deputy Labour opposition leader Paul Brant said it should have been clear that cutting the budget to £400,000 could have safety implications, which in the end led to the cancellation of the festival’s famous outdoor stages.

It left thousands of fans disappointed and saw the number of visitors to the alternative indoor festival suffer a huge drop from previous years. Officials said that the 2006 budget had been £500,000 but there had been an overspend, and this year the money intended for the festival had been reduced because the scale of the festival was smaller.

They pledged the budget would go back to £500,000 for the 2008 festival in Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year.

The new row came as councillors prepared for the first major public debate on the festival.

A meeting tomorrow night will see calls for a vote of no confidence in council leader Warren Bradley backed by demands for an independent inquiry led by a QC to investigate the cancellation of the festival on health and safety grounds.

It also follows claims from the former events manager at the Culture Company, Lee Forde, that he had grave concerns about the resourcing of events about a year ago.

Last week he revealed he quit his job in June because he felt he did not have enough resources to deliver the 800th birthday weekend celebrations (which included the Mathew Street Festival) and events into 2008.

Mr Forde is pursuing a claim against Liverpool City Council for constructive dismissal.

Later this week, Cllr Bradley will be giving evidence before the internal council inquiry into the fiasco.

The inquiry had been expected to report its findings relatively quickly but insiders said it could be the end of September before there was a result.

Last night, Cllr Brant said: “It’s my understanding this year’s Mathew Street Festival was being required to be delivered with a budget of £400,000 as opposed to £680,000 last year.

“This was as a result of a council instruction to save money.

“It must have been obvious to anybody involved that this was not going to be possible and could lead to safety concerns, which is of course what happened.”

Cllr Brant said the fact Cllr Bradley was giving evidence to the inquiry meant he could be in line for criticism.

A city council spokesman said: “The budget for this year’s planned Mathew Street Festival was reduced from £500,000 to £400,000, not to save money, but because the festival was scheduled to take place over just two days, compared to an extended four day festival in 2006.

“In addition, a significant proportion of the budget for the 2006 festival was spent on the huge Pier Head stages and all the associated sound and lighting works, which could not be used this year because of the regeneration work taking place on the waterfront.”

He said he could not comment on the inquiry while it was being held.

davidbartlett@dailypost.co.uk