The government and organizers say that the plan has spread employment, opportunity, and cultural access to more than one hundred towns, cities, and villages across the whole United Kingdom.
An investigation has been initiated into the £120 million “festival of Brexit” due to concerns that attendance was less than 1% of initial projections.
A cross-party parliamentary committee has requested that the National Audit Office (NAO), the public spending watchdog, investigate the project’s management to “find out how so much taxpayer money could be wasted with so little return.”
Initially announced by Theresa May in 2018 as Festival UK* 2022, it was intended to be a nationwide celebration of innovation following the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.
Before it was relaunched as the Unboxed festival, Jacob Rees-Mogg referred to it as the “Brexit Festival.”
However, Politics Home reported earlier this year that the event, which was intended to revive the spirit of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Festival of Britain of 1951, had only attracted 238,000 people as opposed to the projected “stretch target” of 66 million.
In addition, the Commons Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee (DCMS) demanded an investigation last month after deeming the project an “irresponsible use of public funds” and its planning a “recipe for disaster.”
Its chairman, the Conservative MP Julian Knight, stated, “The fact that so much public money has been spent on a so-called celebration of innovation that has scarcely registered in the public mind raises severe red flags about how the project has been managed from inception to completion.
“The NAO’s review will bring welcome and comprehensive examination and assist determine how so much taxpayer money could have been wasted with so little return.”
In September, Mr. Knight demanded a probe, claiming that the planning and execution of the festival “had been a complete disaster.”
The meager attendance at the event, despite the substantial investment, demonstrates what an extravagant waste of money the entire enterprise has been,” he continued.
Gareth Davies, the comptroller and auditor general of the National Audit Office, has proposed a “brief, focused report on Unboxed” that could be finished and released before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the government and organizers assert that the plan has reached every area of the United Kingdom, including more than one hundred towns, cities, and villages, spreading employment and cultural access.
A representative for the Department for Digital Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) stated, “More than four million individuals have interacted with Unboxed content to date, and these numbers are projected to increase.”
And a representative for Unboxed: Creativity in the UK stated, “The published numbers distort the public’s engagement with Unboxed and reflect attendance at only eight of the program’s 107 physical venues.
“Unboxed’s art, science, and technology commissions have been presented in over one hundred towns, cities, and villages, have engaged millions across live and digital platforms, and have employed hundreds of creatives in the United Kingdom.
The Unboxed initiative will run through the end of the year.
