Bolton Conservative Deputy Leader, Cllr Hilary Fairclough, have called-in a decision made by Labour’s Executive Cabinet Member for Culture to allow for further scrutiny over plans to award £80,000 of taxpayer’s money to only two groups within Bolton, without any competitive bidding or tendering process.
Bolton Film Festival and Bolton Pride are in line to receive £40,000 each if this decision is approved.
Following a budget amendment brought by Communities First to the Council’s budget in February 2025, Labour and Communities first voted to approve the amendment that would “add to the existing funds that support third party Community Events [with] rules on distribution to be decided at [a] Policy Development Group.” This amendment would create a PDG to determine how these funds should be distributed.
However, the PDG resulted in a presentation of how two organisations, Bolton Film Festival and Bolton Pride, would be awarded the funding as a pre-determined decision. This has meant that many community groups will miss out on this significant funding opportunity which would enable them to host their own events.
This decision is in stark contrast to how the previous Conservative council distributed grants. The Conservative council handed over the allocating of funding for voluntary and community groups to Bolton CVS, to remove political interference from the process. Labour are now turning their back on this.
Commenting, Conservative Deputy Leader and Shadow Executive Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr Hilary Fairclough, said:
What concerns me the most is that these organisations were already being funded by Bolton Council. For example, Bolton Film Festival was already receiving £20,000. Why do they need such significant increases in support at the expense of others?
Whilst we have no problem with these organisations, as we know they have well attended events, we are concerned by the lack of openness, transparency, and fairness for all groups. I know many groups will be worried that they’ve missed out through no fault of their own.
Finally, the councillor who spoke in favour of the budget amendment at council in February 2025 and chaired the Policy Development Group, spoke of how they’re involved in attendance at both these events, which brings into question how these two groups were decided upon.
