Council defends Coventry's City of Culture legacy

A £1m loan from the council to the City of Culture Trust is unlikely to be paid back

Coventry's UK City of Culture legacy has been defended by the council after the group overseeing the projects said it faced financial crisis.

The trust responsible for delivering them after Coventry's tenure as City of Culture has spoken with administrators.

David Welsh, the councillor responsible for arts and culture, accepted it may not be able to deliver its legacy arts and culture programme.

But he said the "overall benefits of the year far outweigh any downside".

In 2022, the council helped the City of Culture Trust with a £1m loan and the trust's chief executive, Martin Sutherland, said at the time he was confident it would be paid back.

But councillors were briefed on Monday evening to say that the loan is now unlikely to be repaid.

Trust accounts recorded for the end of the financial year in March 2022 showed a funding shortfall of about £1.5m, with £20.6m of expenditure and £19.1m of income.

The trust's total wage bill added up to just under £3.8m, having increased by £1.2m from the previous financial year.

On Tuesday, Mr Sutherland received an OBE at Windsor Castle for his work throughout Coventry UK City of Culture, along with the trust's former creative director, Chenine Bhathena, and the former director of audience strategy, Laura McMillan, who became MBEs.

David Welsh said the "overall benefits of the year far outweigh any downside"

Last week the trust said it was "seeking accountancy, contingency, and insolvency advice as is appropriate".

But Councillor Welsh pointed out an independent report stated millions of pounds had been secured as a result of being awarded the UK City of Culture title.

That included money for a Cultural Capital Investment Fund, which he said enabled the city to "restore, improve or bring back into public use cultural assets" such as St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry Cathedral and the Belgrade Theatre.

Councillor Welsh said Arts Council England and the British Council were relocating their "prestigious collections" to the city "as part of the Cultural Gateway which would be created in the former Ikea building.

He stated conversations "they developed with us" were "only because of the national title" and added that many people had rediscovered the improved city centre following the pandemic.

The councillor said smaller arts and culture organisations had also benefitted.

Analysis by Simon Gilbert, BBC CWR political reporter

After all the build-up and excitement, Coventry's time as UK City of Culture seems set to fizzle out rather than end with a bang.

The news that the Coventry City of Culture Trust is on the brink of financial collapse has sent shockwaves around the city.

In the past few days it has been all but confirmed the trust will be unlikely to deliver a promised three-year legacy programme.

Today, senior figures (including the trust's top boss) have collected honours for their work with the trust. While these awards were originally announced in June, the optics and timing are unfortunate.

Arts organisations which have spoken to BBC CWR have described their frustration, bemoaning a missed opportunity.

Some local politicians are furious, questioning the use of public money in a failed bailout of the trust. Others argue benefits to the city from the trust's work outweigh any losses no matter what happens now.

The death of the city of culture trust might not be confirmed yet, but the post mortem is already under way.

Mr Welsh said the financial issues affecting the trust were disappointing, but he promised: "We will continue on that improvement journey with or without the Trust."

Mr Sutherland is expected to leave his role as chief executive this month and was not available for comment.

No replacement has been appointed, however, despite a lengthy recruitment process for the £85,000-a-year role.

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