BRADFORD Council has explained what it has done with the multi-million pound sum it received from the NEC Group.
Bradford Council this week confirmed to the T&A that it received £5,371,000 from the NEC Group, which withdrew from the £50.5 million Bradford Live project 10 months ago.
The Council also confirmed that it did not pay any public money to the NEC Group as part of the agreed settlement terms.
The T&A has been fighting for answers on this matter for several months and ended up complaining to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at the start of this year.
On Monday, the ICO contacted the T&A to confirm it had ordered Bradford Council to disclose the information.
According to the ICO, the Council supported disclosure of the information “on review of the matter” – but the NEC Group “disagreed with the Council’s position”.
After the information was disclosed, the T&A asked Bradford Council what it had done with the £5,371,000.
A Council spokesperson said: “The monies received from the settlement have now been deposited in the Council’s bank account which has consequently reduced the Council’s need to borrow.”
They added: “Until now, the £5,371,000 figure that the NEC Group paid to the Council in compensation had been withheld as it was prejudicial to commercial interests and subject to confidentiality requirements under the terms of the settlement.
“Following the successful appointment of new operators for Bradford Live, the Council argued that there was no longer any commercial prejudice and it was in the public interest to override the confidentiality clause.
“The ICO has supported this view and agreed that it is in the public interest to publish the financial settlement and has required the Council to do so.”
Last year, the Council revealed the overall cost of the Bradford Live project was £50.5m – of this, £43.75m came from the Council, made up of grants and loan cash, and the remainder came from West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In February, the Council confirmed that Trafalgar Entertainment had signed a 25-year lease to run Bradford Live, which is owned by the Council.
The authority said it expects to receive total income of “up to around £17m” from Bradford Live over the 25-year period through rent and a share of profits – and claimed that the venue would boost the local economy by £580m over the contract lifetime.
Trafalgar Entertainment has invested £3m in fitting out the venue, which officially opens at the end of August.
