UNITED KINGDOM (CelebrityAccess) A call to investigate Cambridge Live, which runs the Cambridge Folk Festival and the 1,700-capacity Cambridge Corn Exchange in the U.K., has been rejected following concerns of a $750,000 bailout from the Cambridge City Council.
The council brought Cambridge Live in-house after the trust encountered several financial problems, according to IQ magazine. The Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment calling for a full inquiry into why the trust failed.
“Recognising the substantial potential public cost of this rescue and the need to decide whether Cambridge Live should in future continue in-house or be re-launched as an independent organisation, it is important to properly understand what went wrong in Cambridge Live and in the council’s relationship with it, both as its founding sponsor and major partner and customer,” the party said. “We therefore request officers to recommend terms of reference for a cross party members’ inquiry addressing these issues.”
Chief executive of Cambridge City Council, Antoinette Jackson, said: “Our priority at the moment is to stabilise the organisation. We do not have the officer capacity at the moment to support an inquiry.”
Cambridge Live was launched in 2015 and handles events at the 10,000-capacity CFF plus the Big Weekend community event. It also handles the e-Luminate Cambridge Festival, a weeklong festival of light.
The council will now be responsible for all services once provided by Cambridge Live, according to IQ.
