COVID: Peterborough taxpayers lose £2m due to closure of arts and leisure services

The figure is the deficit expected by Peterborough City Council relating to its previous contract with Vivacity.

The not-for-profit trust, which ran arts, culture, leisure, heritage and library services, collapsed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic which saw non-essential premises having to close for long periods.

The services have since been re-distributed by the council to City College Peterborough (under a new organisation called City Culture Peterborough) and Peterborough Limited, both of which are under the authority’s remit.

Asked about the deficit, which relates to the current financial year (April 2020 to March 2021), a council spokeswoman said: “This is due to the drop in income that was expected during November and January lockdowns and the reduced income in residents using the services outside of these times due to Covid-19.”

The cash-strapped council is currently forecasting a £4.8 million deficit for the current financial year which includes £39.3 million lost due to the pandemic.

This is being offset by £36.2 million of additional funding from the Government.

The Conservative-run council is forecasting a deficit of £36 million for its 2021/22 budget and is in talks with the Government about support to bridge this gap with local authorities legally not allowed to plan to make a loss.