Correction: This article originally stated that SIV was "owned" by Sheffield City Council. In fact, SIV is owned by Sheffield City Trust, a charitable trust set up by Sheffield City Council.
Sheffield City Council yesterday admitted Sheftival, the sport and music festival held on Don Valley Bowl last year, lost an eye watering £180,000, ten times the figure they gave just 19 days before.
Sheffield International Venues (SIV), the company who runs the city’s major venues, including Don Valley Stadium and Sheffield City Hall, previously said the cost of the festival was in the order of £10-20,000. SIV is owned by Sheffield City Trust, a charity set up by the council. The company told the Star the accounts that revealed the true cost were “just finalised.”
Earlier this month, when Labour councillor Bryan Lodge went on local radio to justify the planned closure of the Stadium, and of Stocksbridge Leisure Centre, he confirmed the figure was one he recognised.
The BBC’s Toby Foster quizzed Lodge over claims the festival had cost vastly more than was being admitted on March 5th. Foster asked, “So the losses as far as you're concerned, of Sheftival will be as SIV say they are, between 10 and 20 thousand pounds.” to which Lodge replied “Yeah, SIV reported this. It's their event. It's up to them to cover those losses within their business.”
According to the Star:
SIV said the event attracted 20,000 visitors and led to an uptake in people taking part in sport, volunteering, and joining its membership schemes such as Fitness Unlimited.
Steve Brailey, chief executive of SIV, said: “We would have liked to have seen a better financial return. But the investment – at no cost to the council or any of our facilities including Don Valley Stadium and Stocksbridge Leisure Centre – brought benefits to the city.”
Jack Clarkson, a UKIP councillor on Stocksbridge Town Council, told the BBC on March 5th that a whistleblower had come forward had knowledge of SIV finances. The wistleblower, said Clarkson, claimed the festival had lost £180-200,000, and that the cost had been buried in the budgets of Don Valley Stadium and Stocksbridge Leisure Centre. At the time, SIV denied the claim to the BBC, as did Cllr Lodge, who told Toby Foster:
”We have the figures, we look at the figures and we're happy. The figures are there that say [it cost] £400,000 to operate SLC [in 2012-13]. If Mr Clarkson feels they're something different, then it's a matter for him to come up and bring this information to us. We're happy with the figures, we've looked at the figures, we've reviewed the figures constantly over and throughout the process. SIV confirm the figures are £400,000 and SCC confirm it's £400,000."
With SIV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sheffield City Council, somehow managing to underestimate the losses of a major event by £160,000 less than a month from the end of the financial year, here are the questions the council must now answer*:
How much money did Sheffield International Venues put into Sheftival, and how much did they get back? Who bears the cost of Sheftival’s losses?
Who at SIV told the council the figure was £10-20,000, and when was the council made aware of the correct figure?
Cllr Lodge told Toby Foster “We're happy with the figures, we've looked at the figures, we've reviewed the figures constantly over and throughout the process.” Did Cllr Lodge know the correct figure before he went on Toby at Breakfast?
Considering the scale of the underestimation, will the council be ordering an inquiry into the management of SIV?
If SIV’s estimations for the costs of Sheftival are this far out, how far out are the figures on which the council based its’ decision to shutter Don Valley Stadium and Stocksbridge Leisure Centre?
*and which I’ll be putting to them first thing in the morning...