Ex-culture boss Jason Harborow gets £230,000 pay off

Jan 30 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

THE man charged with leading Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year agreed a £230,000 pay-off with the council last night – as the authority was labelled the worst in the country for the way it spends money.

Culture Company chief execut- ive Jason Harborow and Liverpool City Council last night finalised the details of a severance package that sees him officially depart his £150,000-a-year role tomorrow.

It came as the Audit Commis- sion gave the city the lowest possible score for the way it handles taxpayers money, and judged it was performing “below minimum requirements” in financial management and financial standing.

Earlier this month, district auditor Tim Watkinson warned Liverpool’s “weak” financial position may continue to deteriorate in 2008 as it struggles to plug a £20m gap in Capital of Culture finances.

Last night, opposition councillors said the latest criticism and pay-off for Mr Harborow was “concrete evidence” of financial mismanage-ment by the Liberal Democrat administration.

But the Lib-Dems said the rating from the Audit Commission reflected the council’s policy to invest in services instead of building up reserves.

The state of the city’s finances will be debat-ed at tonight’s meeting of the full council.

Mr Harborow said last night: “I have very much enjoyed my time in Liverpool.

“It has been a tremendous challenge, 2008 will be the beginn-ing of the future for Liverpool and its people, and I am grate-ful that I was able to play a role in that.”

He said he will pur-sue other business interests after leaving his dual role which also saw him head up the council’s Culture, Media and Sport department.

It was revealed in December that nego-tiations were taking place between Mr Harborow’s lawyers and the council.

Mr Harborow’s legal team told the council his position was made untenable by council leader Cllr Warren Bradley, who had publicly criticised the culture leader.

The problems between Cllr Bradley and Mr Harborow became known publicly after the high-profile cancellation of the Mathew Street Festival.

Cllr Bradley demand-ed, in an email to chief executive Colin Hilton, that Mr Harborow be relieved of his duties.

In November, when the Mathew Street report cleared Mr Harborow of any wrongdoing, Cllr Bradley criticised the culture leader in a Daily Post interview.

When asked if Mr Harborow should resign, he said: “There has got to be some responsibility shoulder-ed by the senior management team.”

He also said it was “up to the leadership in that team to deliver true leadership.”

When asked if he was referring to Mr Harborow, he said: “Absolutely.”

Last night, council chief executive Colin Hilton said: “Jason has made a huge contribu-tion to the city in lead-ing a team that has developed such a strong programme for 2008.

“He brought flair and a commercial edge to our work and will always be remembered for his enthusiasm and ability to engage the support of the most top level people across sport, government, the arts and other institutions.”

Labour leader Cllr Joe Anderson said: “Once again, it is the council taxpayers that are footing the bill.

“And now an independent body has come out and criticised the council which proves political mismanagement of this city’s finances.”

Answering the Audit Commission criticism, the city’s finance leader, Cllr Keith Turner, said: “We have the best record in the country on keeping council tax down, and our schools, services for the disabled, elderly and vulnerable have been transformed. It is impossible to achieve all these essential improvements, while at the same time squirrel away tens of millions of pounds in the bank, which is what the audit inspectors would like.”