An adviser to Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has resigned following an investigation into a grant from Arts Council England (ACE).
Primary Event Solutions, a company co-owned by Burnham’s night-time economy adviser, Sacha Lord, has been asked to return £400,000 in funding awarded during the pandemic.
It comes after independent Manchester publisher The Mill published a story last year that raised questions about whether the events firm was entitled to receive the cash.
Public body ACE said it was withdrawing the grant and seeking to recover the money following a review of a funding application made in 2021 by Primary Event Solutions, which is now in liquidation.
Mr Lord said there were ‘a small number of unintended oversights which have impacted the application’s clarity under the criteria’, but noted that the review did not find that the events company had deliberately misled ACE.
He also said he was ‘concerned over inconsistencies and a lack of proportionality in the handling of this matter’.
Mayor Burnham said: ‘Sacha has accepted there were inaccuracies in a grant application, and I believe him when he says there was no intention to mislead and that he made no personal gain from the grant.
‘Given that the Arts Council’s counter fraud team previously found no misuse of public money, it is not clear to me why the Arts Council has now reached this decision.’
