Crisis talks to plug £20m Capital of Culture hole

Dec 12 2007 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

crisis in culture

A CRISIS meeting has been called to discuss how Liverpool can plug a £20m black hole in the city’s Capital of Culture finances.

Council leader Warren Bradley has invited the city’s five MPs to a meeting on Friday in the hope of finding a solution to the problem.

The council is currently in discussion with government about using money from the sales of land and buildings to fill the gap.

Its fall back option is to use its reserves and balances, but the council’s chief finance officer warned in his last quarterly review that this option was not guaranteed.

The Labour opposition have warned a combination of service cuts and above average council tax rise may be needed.

Last night, Garston Labour MP Maria Eagle said Cllr Bradley had left it late to engage with the city’s MPs on the subject, as the start of Liverpool’s flagship year is only 18 days away.

“I want to do what I can to help with it, but he’s got to admit that there is an issue, and I have not seen much evidence of that.

“There has got to be some frankness, and he’s got to admit what the full situation is.”

She said Cllr Bradley needed to explain why the Liberal Democrat administration had not built up a war chest to pay for the year’s celebrations.

“I am sure the government will want to do what it can, but it’s not just going to say, ‘OK here’s a blank cheque’. They will want to know what the city is doing.

“We are going to have to listen to what he has to say.”

Last night, the city council issued a statement: “The meeting is to discuss cross- party support regarding the funding of the council’s budget for next year.

“It’s part of our ongoing dialogue with the Government about financing options put forward for 2008/9.”

News of the meeting comes as Cllr Bradley prepares to defend holding a secret meeting with former city events manager Lee Forde, partly blamed for the cancellation of Mathew Street Festival in the council’s official report.

The council leader will come under pressure from Labour at an extraordinary meeting of the full council into the Mathew Street fiasco.

davidbartlett