Reading Liberal Democrats call for answers over rushed City of Culture bid
Reading Liberal Democrats call for answers over rushed City of Culture bid
Reading Liberal Democrats are calling on the Labour-run Council to explain how much taxpayer money and officer time was spent on a City of Culture bid that collapsed within six days of submission — and why warning signs were ignored before it was submitted.
An investigation by The Reading Reporter has revealed that Reading's expression of interest for UK City of Culture 2029 was rejected on 18 March, just six days after a planning meeting held in the Council Chamber. The report also reveals that the decision to submit the bid was made close to the deadline, meaning the bid-writing process was rushed. At the same time, competitor towns had spent considerably longer preparing.
Liberal Democrat councillors are questioning why the bid went ahead at all, given that participants at the planning meeting themselves identified significant risks — including "bid failure fatigue" among residents from previous failed bids, the risk of damaging Reading's cultural sector if unsuccessful, and the likelihood that residents would view it as a waste of money. Those concerns proved well-founded.
The bid also involved the hiring of an external facilitation company, Golden Sankofa, to run the planning meetings — at an as-yet undisclosed cost to the public.
Most strikingly, the bid was pursued at the same time as the Council cut its culture budget from £3 million to just over £2 million — a budget that also has to cover parks, leisure centres and libraries. Reading Liberal Democrats are asking how the Council can justify the time and expense of a high-profile bid while simultaneously reducing the very investment that would have made Reading a more credible candidate.
James Moore, Reading Liberal Democrat Councillor for Tilehurst, said:
"Residents deserve to know how much of their money was spent on a bid that those involved knew was a risk — and that was apparently written in a rush. The warning signs were there before the bid was even submitted, yet the Council pressed ahead anyway.
"At the same time as pursuing this bid, Labour cut Reading's culture budget. You cannot credibly pitch yourself as a City of Culture to a national panel while cutting the funding that supports culture in your own town.
"We're not opposed to ambition for Reading. But ambition has to be backed by a plan, proper preparation, and a realistic assessment of whether the time and money involved are justified. This bid had none of those things.
“We are calling on the Council to publish a full account of the costs involved — including any external consultancy fees — and to explain what steps will be taken to ensure public money is not wasted in this way again.”
Reading Liberal Democrats are also noting that a 10-point recovery plan has been produced following the bid's failure, but that no date has yet been set for the next meeting to take it forward — raising further doubts about whether the Council has a coherent strategy for culture in Reading.