Coventry MP believes 'lessons to be learnt' from City of Culture Trust's demise
Coventry North West's MP claimed a lack of direct control by government proved 'fatal.'
A government minister has agreed there are “lessons to be learned” after the collapse of the Coventry City of Culture Trust.
Tory MP Stuart Andrew expressed his “sincere regret” at the trust’s fall into administration at a debate in Parliament yesterday, Wednesday, June 14.
He pledged his department would look at a review by a public spending watchdog into the charity’s collapse and learn any lessons from this.
It comes after the trust, set up as an arms-length body to run Coventry’s city of culture year and legacy, went bust in February.
The group, which had millions of pounds in public funding, is unlikely to pay back over £4 million to its creditors who include Coventry City Council and West Midlands Police.
The trust’s collapse also led to the loss of fifty jobs, the closure of The Reel Store and uncertainty over other so-called legacy projects.
Coventry North-West MP Taiwo Owatemi, who applied for the debate, claimed a lack of direct control by local or national government proved “fatal” to the trust.
She raised concerns about the trust’s engagement with local communities, financial management and a lack of accountability after things went wrong.
“Plans for an ongoing legacy are having to be rewritten from scratch,” she added.
“Lessons must be learned. Future cities of culture, including Bradford in 2025, should not have to face the financial and reputational losses.”
Andrew, a minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which runs the city of culture competition, started by expressing his “regret” at the trust’s fate.
He then stressed the city of culture’s “huge successes”, including investment into Coventry and an “excellent” cultural programme.
Andrew also highlighted the challenges faced by the trust, including the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, which contributed to its demise.
But he said: “Nevertheless, following the trust’s administration, I do not dispute that there are lessons to be learned by all parties, and, as the hon. Lady knows, wider work is being undertaken to understand the circumstances in which it entered administration.
“As she said, the National Audit Office has elected to conduct a review of the trust, which is focused in scope and is examining the issues of central government funding and oversight of the trust.
“The report is due to be published in the summer, and I can give the hon. Lady a commitment that we will consider it and apply the lessons learned from it to the future of the programme.”
Asked about accountability for those who oversaw the trust, he pointed again to the review.
“I can assure Ms Owatemi as soon as we get that report, if there are any lessons to be learned in terms of oversight, we will look at them carefully,” he said.
“It is important that we learn those lessons, because I do not want us to damage this excellent programme.
“People need to have great confidence in it, and we will also need to apply those lessons to the launch of the 2029 competition.”
Andrew added that work is going on to make sure there is “robust governance and accountability” for Bradford’s city of culture year in 2025.
Securing a continuing legacy is also “critical”, he said.
“We will continue to work closely with Bradford to ensure that it meets its stated goals, and we will certainly learn all the lessons that we have experienced from Coventry,” he added.
“We will also work closely with the city, as I know it is currently considering what that legacy programme will look like.”
Coventry City Council is due to give officials at the department their plans for a legacy programme, he revealed.
He concluded: “We need to learn lessons from this. It is a great programme that brings about many benefits, lots investment and lots of regeneration.
“When it is done well, it really engages the local community, but it is important that as we go through this, we learn the lessons.
“We look forward to seeing what the NAO report says and we will learn from that.”