Boris Johnson shakes up funding for capital's cultural events

London mayor wants new standards for grants
Adviser expresses worries about how money is spent on events such as Notting Hill carnival
Trafalgar Square fourth plinth - Thomas Schütte's Model for a Hotel
Trafalgar Square: public use will be balanced with need to hold commercial events. Photograph: Graeme Robertson Graeme Robertson/Guardian

Boris Johnson is planning to clamp down on funding for cultural events in London and steer community groups towards other sources of finance, it emerged today.

The mayor's marketing adviser, Dan Ritterband, told the London assembly's budget committee that "standardised" funding offers would be made to community groups approaching his office for cash to help them stage cultural and religious events.

Ritterband told the cross-party panel that the mayor wanted to end variations in the offers of cash and resources to groups wanting to hold public events in London,

He said: "We are standardising the offer so we will know for the next year the programme we are to deliver instead of people coming randomly through the year saying 'we want to run an event in Trafalgar Square in a few weeks' time'," he said.

Ritter told that the mayor wanted to be more "even handed" in the way funding support was distributed and to ensure public events held in iconic sites such as Trafalgar Square were balanced by commercial events that brought in revenue.

Referring to the reign of the previous mayor, Ken Livingstone, Johnson's adviser said community groups had "come to expect" the Greater London authority (GLA) to fork out cash and facilities. "People show up year in year out for handouts saying 'give me the money.' We seem to be handing out cash to people with varying sums depending on who has the best contact with the mayor's office.

"Some people take handouts and we may not see value for money."

Ritterband cited the Notting Hill carnival, to which the GLA donates £130,000 to pay for stewarding, as a case in point.

He said the GLA had "no idea" where the money actually went. "It is inappropriate that £130,000 is given blind," he said.

"We want to ensure it is not just being given to their mates and it given to proper stewarding companies. It is murky and we want to make unmurky the dealings which are GLA-sponsored events."

With a review at the London Development Agency still under way, Ritter said he was unable to stipulate the set sum that would be on offer in the future.

The GLA would also review the use of Trafalgar Square, which Ritterband said was being "hammered" by the number of events scheduled there.

Trafalgar Square is a potential cash earner for the GLA as companies often bid to use the site for promotional events.

This would need to be balanced with cultural events and public use of the square "as a square", said Ritterband.

The GLA is planning to stage workshops to teach community groups the skills for applying for grant funding elsewhere.

Ritterband said if groups were unable to strike sponsorship deals for their events, it would suggest the event was not "commercially viable".

"We want to empower these groups," he said. "We are doing workshops for all community groups to let them know where they can get funding and other sponsorship."

John Biggs, the Labour chair of the budget and planning committee, expressed fears that a standard grant rate could disadvantage marginalised communities.

"One of the primary roles of the GLA and the mayor of London is to promote London's community cohesion and one of the key requirements is to work with communities who do not have the resources behind them," he said.