Comment: Questions over Culture cash

Nov 21 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

THE saying, “To never look a gift horse in the mouth”, is not always the soundest advice to follow. And it seems Liverpool city council has looked exceedingly hard at the offer by BT of £2m funding towards Culture Year sponsorship, and decided to put that particular gift horse back in its stable.

BT had agreed to double its sponsorship for 2008 from £2m to £4m; the proviso was that the extra money would have to be repaid if the council terminated its Liverpool Direct Limited contract early.

Now talks relating to this deal have “terminated”, according to council chief executive Colin Hilton.

Meanwhile, an investigation continues into whether the city council is getting value for money from the LDL deal.

The inquiry follows concerns about “lack of transparency” raised by a local government agency who described the deal as “opaque”.

So it would seem that the council has made the right decision not to get involved in sponsorship deals with companies which might, in the future, be looking to retrieve the cash.

The outcome of the review is due in March, and it will be interesting to see where that leads Liverpool city council. If the outcome is unfavourable to BT, it could cost the authority £20m to extract itself from the deal. But, in the long run, it could be that this is money well spent, as far as Liverpool is concerned.

City’s a true star

HE’S one of the brightest stars in the Hollywood firmament, and he’s filming in Liverpool this week. Robert Downey Jnr will play Sherlock Holmes in the forthcoming movie by Guy Ritchie.

Will it be a success?

With Liverpool playing a starring role, it’s elementary, my dear Watson.