The UK is failing to fully capitalise on the opportunities and
benefits of hosting major cultural and sporting events because of
a lack of overall vision and direction from the Government, MPs
say today.
A report from the DCMS Committee cites this year’s forthcoming
Unboxed: Creativity in the UK festival as a prime example of a
major event where aims are ‘vague and ripe for
misinterpretation’. The £120million investment in the festival –
an eight-month long celebration of creativity following the UK’s
exit from the EU – is ‘an irresponsible use of public money’
given the Government’s own admission that it does not know what
it is for, with the Committee warning that it is ‘far from clear’
that it will deliver a return on investment.
The report also highlights the case of the 2022 Commonwealth
Games in Birmingham. It concludes that while it presents a great
opportunity for the people of the West Midlands, there has not
been sufficient priority given to legacy funding and long-term
evaluation.
The Committee calls on the Government to be clear about what it
is trying to achieve through major events and how they fit with
wider policy priorities, and then to embed that vision through
long-term planning and resourcing.
The report also calls for guaranteed funding for UK City of
Culture hosts and warns that the Government must establish an
independent regulator for English football, as recommended by the
fan-led review of football governance, before the campaign to
host Euro 2028 begins.
Chair's comment
DCMS Committee Chair said: “Despite the UK
having a strong reputation on the world stage as a leading host
of sporting and cultural events, there is no golden thread
linking them all together. Unless the Government urgently
addresses this lack of strategy and vision, it will continue to
risk squandering the benefits such occasions can bring, while
wasting the hard-earned money of taxpayers.
The Unboxed festival acts as a prime illustration of an event
with aims that have been vague from the start. That it took three
years to come up with a rather nebulous name, which will mean
little to the few that are even aware of its existence, does not
bode well for its chances of delivering a true lasting legacy.
How this questionable example of planning is playing out should
act as wake-up call for the Government. Such a muddled approach
is a sure-fire recipe for failure and we have no confidence that
it can meet its ambitious targets for engagement or deliver a
return on the substantial investment from the public coffers.”
Main recommendations
- Within the next two years, DCMS should work with industry to
develop and publish a strategy for hosting the full scope of
major events.
- The Government should guarantee successful hosts of UK City
of 15 Culture an appropriate amount of national funding from the
outset, rather than require the host to wait for a decision, to
enable organisers to focus their efforts on securing other
sources of funding.
- The Government must ensure implementation of the fan-led
review of football governance’s principal recommendation, the
establishment of the independent regulator for English football
in legislation, is completed by the time the campaign to host the
2028 competition begins in earnest.
- The Government must be clear about what it is trying to
achieve through major events and how they fit with wider policy
priorities, and then to embed that vision through long-term
planning and resourcing.
