Letter: No change to culture, heritage and leisure services for Peterborough

I write in response to the letter in last week’s Peterborough Telegraph from June Bull about the council’s decision to continue commissioning leisure, heritage and library services from Peterborough Limited (P-Ltd) and for the sub-contracting of such services by P-Ltd to a wholly owned not-for-profit company.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Sep 2023, 09:49 BST
Peterborough Museum will be protected, writes councillor Steve AllenPeterborough Museum will be protected, writes councillor Steve Allen
Peterborough Museum will be protected, writes councillor Steve Allen

There were a number of inaccuracies in the letter which I feel I must correct so that readers of your newspaper are not misled.

The letter begins by stating that culture and heritage, tourism, leisure and sport help to create and sustain places where people want to live and work. I wholeheartedly agree and that is why we have taken the steps we have to be able to maintain the running of services against a very challenging financial backdrop.

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Put simply, there is no change to the services being provided, it is simply a change of arrangement for the operating model. A not-for profit company will mean we are operating on a level playing field with many other authority areas, as we will be able to realise Tax and business rate savings.

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At a time when the council is striving for financial sustainability and must make millions of pounds in savings in 2024/25 to be able to balance its budget, we owe it to our residents to secure best value across every service we provide.

It will not, as the resident suggests, lead to a loss of external grants or funding or the museum losing its accreditation with the Arts Council. In developing this proposal, we have worked closely with key partners, including the Museums regional development lead and also the Arts Council to ensure this approach does not put in jeopardy our accreditation status. They have confirmed to us that our proposed governance model does not put this in jeopardy, provided certain legal arrangements are put in place with the subsidiary. We are continuing to work closely with them to ensure this happens.

We reject the view that this is short sighted and ‘cutting back’ - this is a very sensible and practical way to provide stability, achieve best value for money and secure the future of these services.

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I can assure residents that we are committed to keeping this arrangement under review to ensure we achieve the best we can for Peterborough. As part of this, we will continue to engage with all key stakeholders.

Councillor Steve Allen

Deputy Leader of Peterborough City Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Communities

Related topics:PeterboroughPeterborough TelegraphArts CouncilCulture