Report on festival fiasco delayed until next week

Oct 21 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

THE report into the Mathew Street Festival fiasco is not likely to be published before the middle of next week, city council leader Warren Bradley admitted last night.

Cllr Bradley, who was issued with the report into the event’s cancellation on Tuesday, said he was still not satisfied all of the detail in it was entirely accurate.

The Liberal Democrat leader revealed he had asked for around 20 clarifications from town hall officers, including requesting copies of emails quoted in the report.

He also said he believed a meeting of the Liverpool Vision board in April 2006, which he is named as having attended in the report, did not take place on the date in question.

And he has ordered a review of the report by a QC over the weekend to check there is no risk of the council being hit with legal action from any officers named in it.

The internal investigation into why the Mathew Street festival had to be cancelled this August had originally been expected to take around a month.

Delays in releasing the report have caused much frustration among opposition councillors.

Labour leader Cllr Joe Anderson last night accused Warren Bradley of failing to deliver on his promise to release the report this week.

It is understood that there is also now a growing frustration within Liberal Democrat ranks at Cllr Bradley’s handling of the affair.

On Wednesday Cllr Bradley told reporters he had seen a draft version and the final report should be in the public domain by the end of the week. But last night he said clarifications were taking longer that expected and he would not hear back from the council’s officers until Monday.

Even then he said he did not expect it would be published until at least Tuesday or Wednesday.

Cllr Anderson last night accused Cllr Bradley of failing to deliver on his promise to release the report this week.

“It’s another let-down, another promise that has not been delivered on.

“We should expect nothing more.

“Everybody realises now that it is not an independent report, it has lost all credibility.”

But last night Cllr Bradley insisted he had the city’s best interests at heart.

“My role as leader of the council is to ensure that this report is factually correct, and that the inclusion of any names of officers is not going to leave the city open to legal action.

“I have requested around 20 clarifications, I have asked for facts and documents to support details in the report and the officers will get back to me with those on Monday.

“I will then have to review the information and if I am still not satisfied I may have to ask for further clarification.

“I have got to make sure, as leader of the council, that the council is not exposed to undue risk.”

It is understood the report will clear Jason Harborow, chief executive of the Culture Company, of any wrong-doing in the fiasco that led to the five outdoor stages of the Mathew Street Festival being cancelled for health and safety reasons, over the August bank holiday weekend.

It is also thought to examine funding issues surrounding the event and the 800th birthday parade that took place on the Tuesday after the bank holiday.

OPINION: PAGE 6

davidbartlett