It is a fact that the culture company couldn't organise a Piss up in a hard drinking town
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It is a fact that the culture company couldn't organise a Piss up in a hard drinking town
THE fallout from the cancellation of the Mathew Street Festival refused to go away last night after the Labour leader demanded resignations.
Cllr Joe Anderson said council leader Warren Bradley, council chief executive Colin Hilton, or the chief executive of the Culture Company, Jason Harborow, should do the “honest and honourable thing”.
“Somebody has to take ultimate responsibility,” he said.
“It’s cost the city hundreds of thousands of pounds, and Liverpool’s reputation has been damaged locally, nationally and internationally.
“Our reputation has been damaged at a crucial time in our birthday year, and somebody has to accept responsibility for that.
More...
LIVERPOOL’S Culture Company is set to be dismantled in the fallout of the Mathew Street Festival saga. Read
Better later than never one can only suppose.
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 spent 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
Source: Daily Post
The most insulting words from Jason Harborough were featured in the Daily Post, how rude and insensitive this man was being to all Liverpudlians. He was quoted as saying he was "comfortable" with the decision to cancel the festival. I would be so rude as to say most people who had an income of £15000.00 per annum usually do feel comfortable. J.H. without a hesitation treated us with utter contempt. Our city fathers treated us no better, who in their right mind's goes off on leave when the biggest event <at no less a time than our 800th birthday>, is about to take place.The sheer incompetence is astronomic. Obviously J.H. was entirely "comfortable" and had no concerns as to how his "Boss" Warren Bradley would deal with him or the situation and to cap it all he J.H. was refusing to go. What a fiasco, a comedy of errors, this ranks with Alfred burning the cakes or indeed Warren playing his fiddle while Liverpool burned.
In other words we are being ripped off. Pity we can't either withold our rates as a protest, or second an elective non-party applicant. Perhaps back to the old 'Ratepayers Party', to get this lot of shysters slung out.
Surely we must act now and not permit this fiasco to continue.It seems as if we are being held to ransom by these over- paid incompetent gang members. Just because they do not dress like hoodies doesn;t mean they are any less dangerous. They have made Liverpool, the city we all love, a laughing stock throughout the world. If we are prepared to tolerate the inferior and lack lustre performance by the COC we must be only getting what we deserve. Since the very beginning.it has been staring us in the face we neeed look no further back than the Robyn Archer episode it was more like robbin b.'s.We need to put our personal political squabbles aside and do what we do well, act with passion and pride and not let us be made a laughing stock again. We pay large salaries let us demand equally large performances. Much should be expected of those who seek to convince us that they have much to offer. City fathers act for the good of the decent people of this city.Each and every member of the council should stand up and be counted
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I have just received this.
Culture board set for reshuffle
The board of the Liverpool Culture Company is set to change following the cancellation of much of the Mathew Street Festival last month.
Plans for the outdoor stages were abandoned two weeks before the event amid safety concerns.
Following a crisis meeting on Tuesday, a reshuffle is now expected which will see Brian Grey, from the North West Development Agency, become chairman.
Liverpool City Council Leader Warren Bradley will be his deputy.
There will be up to six other members, who will all be hands on and regularly in the culture company offices.
These will include current chairman Professor Drummond Bone.
Brookside creator Phil Redmond is to lead an artistic advisory group, which it is hoped will help include existing arts organisations in the Capital of Culture celebrations.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...de/6990567.stm
Published: 2007/09/12 06:19:58 GMT
© BBC MMVII
On Edit: Perhaps I'm jumping the gun putting this on the 'incompetence' thread.
Phil Redmond to shake up 08 programme
Sep 12 2007
Liverpool Echo Exclusive
NEW Culture kingpin Phil Redmond is ready to make changes to the 2008 programme.
Redmond was last night handed the key artistic role as a slimmed-down board was charged with delivering Capital of Culture.
Although the same meeting signed off the 08 programme, Redmond is believed to be anxious to address what he sees as significant gaps in the line-up.
The former Brookside supremo will target greater community involvement and question the value of some setpiece events. He also wants a greater Liverpool “feel” to 08.
There will be more emphasis on the Open Culture programme he is leading to offer creative opportunities to the people of Merseyside.
The Mathew Street fiasco left senior board members livid and believing closer control of the Culture Company was essential.
Culture Company chief executive Jason Harborow will come under the direction of the new board as he awaits the results of an internal investigation into the decision to cancel Mathew Street.
Source: Liverpool Echo
FOR iMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, September 13 2007
New Culture Company Board announced
The Liverpool Culture Company is pleased to announce the members of the new slimmed down Board.
Following this week’s Board meeting, where the programme of events for Capital of Culture 2008 were endorsed, the decision was taken to slim down the Board to ensure that it is able to react more quickly and fast track decisions for the 08 schedule.
The new Board will focus its efforts on ensuring a quick response approach to two key areas, finance and creativity.
The Liverpool 08 Board comprises:-
Bryan Gray, MBE DL – Chairman – responsible for finance
Cllr Warren Bradley – Deputy Chair and Leader of Liverpool City Council – Responsible for community relations
Phil Redmond, CBE – Deputy Chair, responsible for creative direction
Professor Drummond Bone – Vice Chancellor, University of Liverpool
Cllr Mike Storey, CBE – Liverpool City Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration
Tom Bloxham, MBE – Chairman of Arts Council England – North West
Bryan Gray, Chairman, said: “We have moved quickly to complete the formation of the new Board in order to focus our attention on delivery of the 2008 programme which was agreed earlier this week. This is a very strong Board which will work hard on behalf of the people of Liverpool, the wider region and the country to deliver European Capital of Culture 2008 on behalf of the UK.
’’We all look forward to working with the Liverpool Culture Company Chief Executive Jason Harborow and his team over the coming year.
‘’I wish to thank publicly everyone who has served on the Culture Company Board since Liverpool won the nomination. We are keen to continue benefiting from their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm through the Cultural Group, which Phil Redmond will lead. We will also work with all sectors of the community and all our sponsors and supporters to ensure that Liverpool delivers the best possible year.”
Biographies:
Bryan Gray MBE DL
Bryan Gray is Chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). Amongst his many other roles he is also a Director of Culture Northwest, a Trustee of National Museums Liverpool, a member of Liverpool Cathedral Council and Chairman of Lowther Castle and Gardens Trust. Culture Company Board member since its inception in 2004.
Cllr Warren Bradley
Councillor Warren Bradley has been Leader of Liverpool City Council since December 2005. Warren sits on numerous boards in the city as a Director including; Business Liverpool, Liverpool Vision, Liverpool Land Development Company, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, ACE (NW), The Mersey Partnership and North West Vision and Media. Culture Company Board member since 2004.
Cllr Mike Storey, CBE
Mike is the Executive Member for Regeneration and a member of the NWDA Board. He was elected to Liverpool City Council in 1973, and is the longest serving councillor. He was Leader of the Council from 1998 until 2005. Appointments to outside bodies include Liverpool Business Improvement District Board, City Centre Development Group and the North West Local Government Association. Culture Company Board member since 2004.
Phil Redmond, CBE
Phil founded Mersey Television in 1981 and has since expanded the company into one of Britain's biggest permanent employers in the independent production sector. Phil is a Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University where he is also a Member of the Board of Trustees. Culture Company Board member since 2006.
Tom Bloxham, MBE
Tom Bloxham is Chairman, joint founder and major shareholder of the Urban Splash Group Ltd. Tom also chairs the Arts Council England North West and has advised the Government on property matters through its Property Advisory Group (ODPM), its Urban Sounding Board (ODPM) and Urban Task Force (Working Groups). Tom is also chair of the new Manchester International Arts Festival and has recently been and has recently been appointed chair of the IPPR Centre for Cities Think Tank. Culture Company Board member since 2004.
Professor Drummond Bone
Professor J. Drummond Bone is currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and was President of Universities UK from August 2005 to August 2007. As a University leader and manager he has been particularly involved in the relationship between universities and business and industry and is currently a member of the CBI Science and Innovation Board. Culture Company Board member since 2004.
ENDS
Phil Redmond's a great addition but why wasn't he on it in the first place? It's another case of outsiders coming in and reaping the benefits,the best women for the job was a scouser who was headhunted by London 2012,instead we got some Australian bint who couldn't be bothered coming to Liverpool.
It's still council led too unlike any other city that's held the CoC which can/has resulted in a conflict of interests. As someone put it to me earlier; Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Excellent news that Phil Redmond is taking control. It could be said Mr redmond is Liverpool's answer to the late Tony Wilson.
Could you imagine if the two had ever worked together?