Sir Gary Verity to lead £15m fund as part of cultural investments

SIR Gary Verity is to lead a £15m Great Exhibition Legacy Fund as part of a raft of cultural announcements targetting the North of England. The Welcome to Yorkshire chief exective, who became the figurehead for the Tour de France’s Grand Depart from the region in 2014, has been asked by the Chancellor to head the project, which will “pave the way for future cultural investment in the Northern Powerhouse”. There will be £5m to expand the Great Exhibition of the North, which will “celebrate the great art, design and culture of the North”. The Government has also backed a UK bid to host the Rugby League World Cup in 2021, eight years after the successful staging of the competition here. The 14-team tournament in 2017 is being co-hosted by Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, which makes a Northern Hemisphere venue for the following tournament likely. Cultural spending was a highlight of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, and he has now promised £1m to “create a lasting legacy” for Hull’s UK City of Culture 2017 win. The funding will also prepare for the next UK City of Culture. The MP for Hull West and Hessle Alan Johnson reportedly asked the Chancellor for his support. The money for Hull is part of a package for the Northern Powerhouse. This includes funding the iconic new Factory Manchester and the Great Exhibition of the North, as well as Scotland’s Burrell Collection. The British Library was appealed to to develop a business case for a print collections management hub in Boston Spa, Wetherby. UK Sport, which has been living on “diminishing reserves” according to the Chancellor, will receive a 29% increase in their budget. “We’re going for gold in Rio and Tokyo,” Mr Osborne said. Following the success of London 2012 and the Rugby Union World Cup, the government has said it will support the host bid for the cycling Road World Championships and 2021 Rugby League World Cup in the Northern Powerhouse. Chancellor George Osborne said: “One of the best investments we can make as a nation is in our extraordinary arts, museums, heritage, media and sport. “£1bn a year in grants adds a quarter of a trillion pounds to our economy – not a bad return. So deep cuts in the small budget of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are a false economy. “Its core administration budget will fall by 20%, but I am increasing the cash that will go to the Arts Council, our national museums and galleries.”