THE NATIONAL Audit Office has announced it will be investigating what happened to central government funding given to the Coventry City of Culture Trust and the city council.
The inquiry, scheduled for this summer, plans to look at funding provided to the Trust and the authority for the city of culture events schedule and associated activities.
This will include looking into cash provided for the city of culture legacy phase, which the Trust was unable to complete after it went into administration in February.
The funding investigated will include that provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and its arm’s-length bodies.
The national audit office said its inquiry will set out how the funding was accounted for and how it was used.
It added this work would complement that of several other bodies looking into other aspects of the Trust.
A Council spokesperson said: “The Council has previously called for an independent, national review into the finances of the City of Culture Trust, so we welcome the National Audit Office’s announcement.
“This review will provide independent answers, complementing wider work focusing on the circumstances that resulted in the City of Culture Trust entering administration, which must be understood.”
This week marks a year since Coventry’s time as the UK city of culture came to an end.
Coventry conservative leader Coun Gary Ridley said the Trust’s subsequent collapse marked a ‘deeply disappointing end to the year.’
“There are huge questions to be asked of Coventry City Council and for the incompetent trust, and how they could have allowed this to happen.
“And there is a massive question mark over what this means for the legacy programme in Coventry and our reputation as a city that can host big events.
“The only way to get to the bottom of this is to hold a public inquiry to ensure that the colossal mistakes made are not repeated elsewhere.”
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