MIDDLEWICH Town Council should never have been running the music festival which lost £84,000 because it didn’t have the expertise, the mayor has said.
Cllr Colin Coules (Ind) said this summer’s council-funded Folk and Boat (FAB) Festival was too big and the budget set was ‘a fantasy’.
He was speaking following the publication of two reports on the festival losses - one from the council’s auditor and another following an independent internal inquiry.
“The auditor’s report is almost identical to the inquiry report,” Cllr Coules told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“Basically, what the reports say is we are absolutely convinced there is no illegal wrongdoing, we are pretty confident that standing orders etc were followed, so you have to ask questions why did they lose so much money?
“I think it’s pretty clear that, if you look back on the record, every time that festival got bigger we lost more and more money. The budget was fantasy, it just didn’t hold water at all, yet it was passed.”
The annual FAB festival has been running since 1990 and Middlewich Town Council took over the ownership and funding in 2011.
It had also failed to break even in 2018 and 2019.
The auditor’s report into this year’s event revealed ‘multiple issues relating to project planning, project management, financial management, decision making, risk assessment, internal controls and administration’.
The independent inquiry found ‘the losses were incurred by ill-advised operational decisions’.
It stated: “Ticket sales contributed to the greatest shortfall.”
Ticket sales had been predicted to bring in £136,960 – the actual figure was £62,066.
Both reports refer to the allocation of free complimentary tickets.
The inquiry states: “Several questions raised concerned the allocation of complimentary tickets. Whilst there is a high degree of concern and comment in this area, without a proper register of who received complimentary tickets, and the apparently relaxed handling of the tickets, it is not possible to make a formal response.”
The auditor states: “Free tickets for the FAB events should have been minimal. However, we were informed by an officer present at the festival ticketed gate, that ‘hundreds’ of free entries were provided to residents on the Friday and Saturday nights of the event.”
Spending on artists was more than four times higher this year compared to 2019 – at £85,740 compared to £20,790.
The inquiry report stated: “The council is ill-equipped to deal with entrepreneurial undertakings. It should refrain from these activities or engage professional specialists to undertake those elements.”
Cllr Coules told the LDRS: “Both reports say the council, as a whole, are responsible for that loss.
“The report said we had a massive festival that was too big for the town and we had no expertise at all in managing anything like that. We should never have taken it on.”
Cllr Jonathan Parry (Lab) told the LDRS there was a huge call for the festival to be held after Covid.
“I think it’s the right decision for the council not to do it again and let it be run by the community,” he said. “Running it is not just about finance, it’s about the manpower and we haven’t got the manpower.”
Cllr Carol Bulman (Lab) told the LDRS the decision to hold the inquiry was rushed through in August when everybody was away.
“We were not shown the terms of reference, and the composition of the inquiry team and the terms of reference should have been brought back to full council for approval and that didn’t happen,” said Cllr Bulman.
“One of the people responsible for the planning was an experienced project manager and his planning was not looked at by the inquiry team or the auditors, so it is also an incomplete report.”
She added: “I think an inquiry was necessary because it was public money but councillors should not have been involved, it should have been left to the auditors.”
An extraordinary meeting of Middlewich Town Council will be held at 8pm on Friday, December 9, at Victoria Hall for the public to discuss the inquiry reports into FAB.
The reports are available to view on Middlewich Town Council's website.
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