Sunderland City Council leader defends £50,000 Spice Girls gig subsidy

And later this week councillors could agree to stump up an extra £500,000 to help boost the city’s “events programme” further.

But although at the same time families are facing a hike in their council tax bills worth almost four per cent, council chiefs have insisted the potential return make the investment worth it.

“We’ve got a good base,” said Coun Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council.

“We’ve got the air show, we’ve shown with the Tall Ships we can do world class events and we’ve got concerts coming back to the Stadium of Light.

“But we may have to spend more.

“Half a million to do that properly and see the benefit the city could get economically, to me, makes sense.”

According to Jon Ritchie, the council’s executive director of corporate services, the Spice Girls concern, scheduled for June, could be worth up to £4m to the city.

And it is hoped that instead of being a one-off, a good night could help bring more big acts to the stadium – as well as other major events to the city.

Also read: How to get tickets for the Spice Girls in Sunderland

City leaders have added they are keen for any success to be replicated in Washington and the Coalfield area.

The Spice Girls are set to be the first concert at the Stadium of Light since 2016.

A run between 2009-16 saw the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Oasis and Beyonce visit Wearside.

However, the council has faced criticism for shelling out the money to attract the Spice Girls when other councils, such as Cardiff and Bristol, didn’t, according to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the council’s opposition Liberal Democrat group.

On Wednesday, councillors are due to vote on the local authority’s budget for 2019/20.

As well as ‘an extra £500,000 towards the city’s events programme’, spending plans include a council tax rise of 3.00 per cent, £300,000 towards a ‘deep clean’ of the city centre and £41m for a new civic centre at the Vaux site.

Coun MIller said: “We know from previous concerts these concerts generate really good spend in the local economy.

“If we can get a £3m or £4m return based on giving £50,000 to the club, that’s an £80 return for every pound spent.

“I’m beggared for people asking why we’re doing it, but when you ask real people about it they’re all for it and we need the club to get more.”

Coun Miller added he did not yet know whether he would be attending the Spice Girls concert, that it would ‘depend if my wife and daughter want to go’ and availability of tickets.

James Harrison, Local Democracy Reporting Service