Exclusive! Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, Manchester Climate Monthly can now revealed details of all requests from the City Council to the arts organisation HOME asking it to do more to create a “low carbon culture.” Brace yourself – here it is.
We asked –
“For the period 1 January 2019 to the present date, please provide copies of correspondence between the City Council and Home where the City Council has asked HOME to
a) do more on creating a low carbon culture (this, after all, is the second goal of the City’s 2009 Climate Change Action Plan)
And the reply was
“I can confirm that there is no correspondence which directly relates to this.”
We asked
b) consider pulling adverts which come from fossil fuel intensive industries (airlines, fossil fuel extractors).
And the reply was
“Please see response to question 2 (a).”
We asked
c) discussions/briefing papers/policy documents/minuted meetings between the Executive Member for Culture and Leisure and other members/officers of the Council where a) and b) were considered but not then enacted.
And the reply was
“I can confirm that there is no correspondence in relation to this.”
So. The City Council has been giving HOME 1.3 million pounds a year (1).
And making NO EFFORTS – or even talking about making an effort – to get them to up their activity on creating a low carbon culture.
This, this is the “leadership” we have during a climate emergency.
You have to weep for this city, this species.
Footnotes
(1) MCFLy has no beef with that. They give the Football Museum loads of dosh too. A local government is there, in part, to make sure that culture and sport keep happening. What MCFly DOES find extraordinary is that the City Council seems unwilling (unable?) to use its influence even with organisations it funds. What hope is there for other organisations – these 60 businesses you will be hearing about – where it has less influence, if it won’t even flex its muscles when it can? Or is this all just business as usual, complacent greenwash?
manchester climate monthly 
It’s all very well to say that the Council must keep culture and sport happening, but what about the closure of local libraries, mainly in the poorer areas of the City such as Miles Platting and Clayton and the ending of the Sure Start programme.
Total spending on the so called National Football Museum, including transporting it from Preston, adapting Urbis for it and providing an annual subsidy of £1 million, has amounted to £24 million since 2009. What about the £30 million grant for the arts centre on the old Granada site and what about the £18 million grant to the Library Theater/ Cornerhouse to set up Home.
There is no magic money tree for meeting the needs of the population of a City that consistently registers as one of the top six most deprived in England, but there is a forest of magic money trees when Councillors want to please the petit bourgoise of Didsbury and London.
It’s not good enough,
A forest of magic money trees for Didsbury (and Chorlton!) and London? The City being run by a small unaccountable clique, fixated on inward investment and high profile gimmickry? Say it isn’t so…. etc etc
It’s not good enough, agreed – the key question then is what is to be done?