Arts Council England (ACE) is taking steps to reclaim a COVID-19 support grant awarded to a company linked to Sacha Lord, co-founder of The Warehouse Project and Parklife Festival.
The decision, announced on 29th January, follows an eight-month investigation prompted by a report in The Mill, which accused Primary Events Solutions of improperly securing over £400,000 in public funds.
Following the allegations, Lord stepped down as Manchester's night-time economy advisor, according to Manchester Evening News. He issued a statement describing the situation as "a small number of unintended oversights" that affected the application’s clarity in meeting the grant's criteria. Lord had already left his roles at The Warehouse Project and Parklife Festival, stating his intention to focus on advisory work.
An ACE spokesperson commented: "If concerns are raised to us about a grant application or award, we investigate and take the appropriate action." He continued, adding "Following a thorough review of the application that Primary Event Solutions submitted to the Culture Recovery Fund in 2021, our decision is to withdraw the grant that was awarded and we are seeking to recover this money."
The Mill report, published last May, alleged that Primary Events Solutions made multiple false claims in its funding application, including describing itself as "the backbone of the national creative events sector." Lord initially threatened legal action against the publication for defamation but later withdrew the claim.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who oversaw Lord’s role as night-time economy adviser, has expressed doubts about ACE's findings. Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Burnham stated: "Sacha has accepted there were inaccuracies in a grant application, and I believe him when he says there was no intention to mislead and that he made no personal gain from the grant. Given that ACE's counter fraud team previously found no misuse of public money, it's not clear to me why ACE has now reached this decision."
Read Sacha Lord's statement in full below.
While we acknowledge the change in grant status, we appreciate that Arts Council England have found that there is no finding against the company that it deliberately misled the Arts Council in this application.
The company and its former directors have continued to work closely with Arts Council England to evidence that grant funds were used appropriately to support staff wages and company stability during the pandemic. United We Stream, for example, was a hugely successful event which raised £583,000 to support cultural organisations, businesses and individuals affected by lockdown. Supporting such businesses has always been my only mission in my various unpaid roles.
However, given the company's current status in liquidation, and recognising that there are a small number of unintended oversights which have impacted the application's clarity under the criteria, we accept that the grant status has been updated.
That said, I remain concerned over inconsistencies and a lack of proportionality in the handling of this matter. Not only has this application been reviewed twice previously by the organisation's counter fraud team, which, after examining the financial evidence and invoicing, concluded on both occasions that it was compliant with grant guidance, but the length of time taken to bring the matter to a close raises cause for concern and these delays have taken a significant, personal toll on myself and my family.
Furthermore, the invasion of privacy, particularly the targeted harassment of my wife during the final months of her pregnancy, has been deeply troubling and has only reinforced the importance of protecting and spending more time with my loved ones during this period of my life as a new father.
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