City faces calls to axe Hogmanay party

Published on Friday 14 February 2003 00:00

CITY leaders were today facing demands to axe the world-famous Hogmanay street party amid worries over the cost to the taxpayer.

Liberal Democrat councillors want the flagship event cut completely if enough commercial backers cannot be found to pay for it.

Instead, the council is being urged to continue with its four-day package of celebrations - but without the showpiece event which attracts up to 100,000 revellers on to Princes Street.

The call, unveiled as part of the Liberal Democrat group’s spending proposals for the forthcoming years, has sparked a fresh debate about the future of the event - which the council has had to stump up more than 750,000 for in recent years - despite it being worth more than 35 million to the local economy.

Labour councillors claim it would be "crazy" to walk away from an event which generates television footage around the world on Hogmanay.

The Tory group has warned that cancelling the street party could spark "public disorder" if nothing is organised for the crowds who flock into the city centre, but they still want both the programme of festivities and the street party gradually scaled down to reduce the costs.

But the Lib Dems say firms and businesses should be given a clear message that the street party, which is already sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, will be scrapped if more backing cannot be secured.

It emerged today that the council’s chief executive Tom Aitchison had been asked by the ruling Labour group to conduct a major review of the way the event is funded. In recent years, the council has come up with a grant of 276,000 for the Hogmanay festival and under-written the event to the tune of an extra 500,000. Sponsorship last year generated 150,000, while the First Foot Club membership scheme generated 260,000.

Although a full report on the most recent celebrations has yet to be completed by the authority, councillors believe it may have run at a loss similar to the previous year, when there was a shortfall of 425,000.

The Lib Dems say they want to target the street party because it is the "greedy beast" which eats up the majority of the 1.5m budget for the whole four-day programme of events.

Finance spokesman Robert Aldridge said: "The street party is far too expensive to run and if sponsors cannot be found to cover the costs of this event then if should not happen at all."

Lib Dem colleague Marilyn MacLaren, who is on Lothian and Borders Police Board, added: "I don’t see why we can’t run the rest of the events that are held over Hogmanay without the street party. Taxpayers just aren’t getting value for money from it at the moment."

Tory group leader Iain Whyte said: "If you have thousands on Princes Street and there’s nothing for them to do there would be a real risk of public disorder. We want to see the street party gradually scaled down if enough sponsors can’t be found."

Controversy flared last year when the Scottish Executive turned down a bid by the council to spend 400,000 of extra funding on the event, insisting it did not fit strict criteria and should be used for projects to benefit young people or the environment.

Council leader Donald Anderson revealed the authority wanted to reduce the amount it underwrites the event to 300,000 from its current level of 500,000. He said: "We desperately want to reduce the deficit on Hogmanay. But it would be crazy for us to walk away from an event like this after all it’s done for Edinburgh."

Councillor Steve Cardownie, the city’s leisure and recreation leader, added: "The street party is renowned all over the world. Edinburgh is constantly referred to as the home of Hogmanay."