COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Coventry City Council overspent by £460,000 on last year’s taxpayer-funded Godiva Festival – more than three times its budget for the event



The increasing size of the festival and the spiralling costs of staging it put extra pressure on the council’s budget, chiefs say.

Conservative group leader Councillor Gary Ridley says decisions need to be made to control spending and keep the event free to attend.

The event’s budget was around £150,000 but a further £460,000 was spent staging the festival last year, at a total cost of £610,000.

The Godiva Festival, the UK’s biggest free festival, has grown from a relatively small event when it launched in 1997 to a nationally recognised three-day music show.

Last August, stars such as Jake Bugg, Ronan Keating and Editors took to the stage in War Memorial Park.

The council is looking to offset increasing costs in the future by boosting income from the event.

It could introduce a parking charge at War Memorial Park and seek further sponsorship for the festival, as outlined in its latest budget report.

Coun Ridley called for an urgent all-member council briefing to discuss the details of the overspend, which are not yet publicly available.

He said: “The thriving Godiva festival has gone from strength to strength in recent years. People will want to know that this event remains viable and there for the future.

“With its free admission policy it’s been open and accessible to all making it something we can all be proud of. However, the news that last year’s festival was three times over its budget is deeply concerning.”

He said there seemed to have been ‘a complete failure’ to control costs by the council.

“As we approach our year as City of Culture, I believe passionately that it should remain a free event.

“However, the council needs to come forward with a viable plan to tackle this overspend.

“On the strength of what I have seen so far I’m not convinced they have.

“Ultimately we’ve got a situation where we are constantly being told by the council that they have got no money – spending money wisely is more important than ever.”

Godiva Festival could charge entry fee



People could be charged to visit the Godiva Festival if they live outside Coventry under new proposals.

Coventry City Council said it wants to boost revenue streams to "attract headline acts" to the three-day event.

The festival, which attracts over 100,000 people each year, would remain free for Coventry taxpayers.

The authority said it is considering introducing the charge in order for the festival to "continue to be successful".

If approved by councillors, the new charge would come into force from 2020.

Last year's 20th anniversary show saw performances from Tony Christie, Gabrielle and Ronan Keating.

The council spent £460,000 staging the show in 2018 - three times higher than its original £150,000 budget.

It has set aside an extra £400,000 funding for this year to make a "more realistic" budget of £550,000, it said.

However, Councillor John Mutton, the council's cabinet member for finance, has said the funding increase is not sustainable and other income streams would be looked at.

"It is a lot more realistic this year, but we cannot keep on putting it in year on year so we have also to look at how we can increase the income," he said.

A 'Coventry Card', which would enable free entry to the festival for residents, is also being looked at.

Plans will go before the city's full council on 19 February.

Godiva Festival £460k overspend due to staging acts from cancelled Coventry Ricoh Arena concerts



COUNCIL chiefs have revealed a £460,000 Godiva Festival overspend was mostly the result of staging major acts from two cancelled council-backed Ricoh Arena concerts.

The ‘Coventry Live’ gigs at the Ricoh – featuring Ronan Keating and Jonas Blue – were both organised by the council to help raise cash to meet the spiralling costs of the annual free to attend Godiva Festival in the War Memorial Park.

But poor ticket sales saw both concerts cancelled and those who had bought tickets had to be refunded.

Coventry City Council Cabinet finance spokesman John Mutton this week revealed having already agreed a contract with the two headline acts they were added to the Godiva Festival line-up.

As we reported, Coventry City Council spent more than three times its paltry £150,000 budget for the festival, taking its total spending to £610,000.

Coun Mutton said: “Two of the headline acts which were supposed to have appeared at the Ricoh, weren’t able to go ahead because the tickets weren’t sold, so they came to the Godiva Festival instead.

“And of course, those kind of people (acts) charge the earth.

“They could have continued to go ahead at the Ricoh Arena, knowing that tickets weren’t selling and could have lost even more money than transferring two of those acts to the Godiva Festival."

Revealed: The shocking true cost of Godiva the council did NOT reveal last month



An investigation has revealed the true extent of the Godiva Festival overspend and the cost of the failed gigs at the Ricoh Arena.

New figures released under the Freedom of Information Act found Godiva 2018 cost nearly £1 million – as the council admitted a true overspend of £479k and a ‘missing’ £100k from its accounts.

The Godiva’s woes came to light after a financial monitoring report in January revealed a £460,000 overspend on the festival, despite Coventry City Council only budgeting £150,000.

Last month, finance boss Cllr John Mutton blamed the overspend on axed Ricoh gigs for Ronan Keating – supported by Gabrielle – and Jonas Blue.

Ticket sales flopped for the council-funded concerts in March and April last year, with the authority shifting the acts to the Godiva schedule instead.

In December, a council scrutiny board meeting was told that change has led to a "small administrative loss" for the authority.

Officially, the council said £813,114 was spent on Godiva overall, £433,862 was made in income, with a £379,252 overspend.

Asked to explain how their overspend had dropped from £460,000, the council said its own figures circulated to councillors in January were wrong.

The council had agreed to pay £135,000 for the three acts to perform at the Ricoh gigs.

When those shows were switched to Godiva, the fee remained the same.

But only £35,000 of this was included in the overall Godiva costs

A whopping £100,000 has therefore not been factored into their figures, the council admitted.

That figure remains on the council's books as the cost of the failed efforts to stage the Ricoh Arena concerts.

However, if the remaining £100,000 figure for the Richo gigs is included as a Godiva cost, given the acts ended up performing at the festival, the true spend on Godiva was £913,114, while the true overspend is £479,252.

When the Ricoh gigs were discussed at a scrutiny meeting in December, however, a finance officer said they caused ‘a small administrative loss’ – the council now say “the exact overspend was not clear to officers present”.