With council's throughout the area having to make budget cuts and many raising council tax, Business Argus has this week been asking - should the private sector be involved with funding events like the Christmas lights switch on or the Newport Food Festival.

Kate Thomas, partner, Newport-based HardingEvans Solicitors

A solution would be for private sector companies to be encouraged to co-sponsor popular events such as the Christmas lights switch on and Newport Food Festival with the local authority. The challenge there however is the still tight marketing budgets that the private sector organisations are still managing and the perceived value that they would derive from such sponsorship. If a joint sponsorship initiative worked however, it would enable the local authority to direct their funds to other services for local people.

James Pugh, County Industrial Supplies, Cwmbran

Having been to both events in Newport I can say they were fantastically well run and I thoroughly enjoyed them. With regards to who funds events like these I think a joint venture would be beneficial for all. You could have Newport City Council organising the specific event with money from the private sector partially funding it, this would then get both party’s working together and a better understanding on how both sectors, public and private do things, so we can all learn from one another.

Liz Maher, VAT Director, Centurion VAT Specialists Ltd, Langstone

The challenge for the council is finding the balance between using its funding to deliver its core statutory functions such as social care, housing and education, and recognising that it can do other things, such as the lights in Newport, which don’t create a direct tangible benefit, some would argue, but do address the less tangible aspect that is so important – the sense of optimism and hope in the general public and the business community.

Perhaps if we recognised that the Christmas lights do create a focus and draw people into the centre to visit and spend money, and understand that the lights are literally ‘on’ in Newport – it’s the difficulty of equating the cost with the value it could deliver, that’s the problem.

It would be great if a sponsor could be found. However, current trading is not without its continuing challenges particularly for smaller and medium sized businesses. Therefore, it’s likely that larger budgets would only be found in larger companies who either have a strong historic link to Newport or position themselves in the city, and its surrounding business parks, because they benefit from the excellent staff resources they can tap into to help them grow themselves. Perhaps they’d value ‘getting their name in lights’.

Noel Williams, managing partner, Newport-based Kilsby & Williams Accountants

Events like the Christmas lights switch-on and the Newport Food Festival are much better if they are organised and paid for by local businesses or national corporates with a presence in the city. The benefits of doing this include a much reduced cost to the local council taxpayers, together with the opportunity for more memorable events to be staged using the right marketing skills – all resulting in increased attendances and revenue spend on the day, which feeds back into the local economy. It’s a no-brainer.