We need the facts behind Bristol arena hype

This comment article is written by Tessa Coombes, former Bristol councillor and now studying for a PhD in social policy at Bristol University

Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading quite a lot about the need for evidence to support policy making and decisions and it got me thinking about some of the assumptions we make, based on little evidence, when we take quite crucial decisions that can affect many people.

Politicians do it all the time, they take decisions and make policy based on their own experience, on limited knowledge, linked to their own personal or party ideology, but how often do they really look for the research evidence to underpin their assumptions and decisions?

‘Greater good’?

There are occasions, like when we are using lots of public money for a project such as the proposed Bristol arena, when it would seem like quite a good idea to seek out the evidence to support a decision, where we use quality research to back up some of the ‘big’ decisions taken and when we can see it is not just about the personality but the is clearly about the ‘greater good’.

How often have you heard a particular development or change sold to you on the basis that it will bring jobs and growth to the local economy? Where’s the evidence to support these claims? Does anyone out there really still believe that “trickle-down” economics works effectively – that if we just keep creating jobs somehow everyone will be able to access them and will benefit eventually?

What works?

A year or so ago the government set up something called the ‘What Works’ Network designed to ensure policy decisions are taken on the basis of robust evidence. In their first major report they set out some of the findings from their initial studies (pdf).

In one major area, local economic growth, they looked at the economic impact of major sporting and cultural projects, a good example to explore further because of the proposed arena project in Bristol.

This report on the measurable effects of major sport/culture projects basically came to the conclusion that they more often than not have a zero impact on the local economy.

If we measure these things on the basis of economic impact alone then they are pretty unlikely to be cost-effective. Yet when big projects like stadium developments or the arena project are promoted, one of the things we are told is just how big an impact they will have on our economy, in terms of jobs, GDP and growth.

Negligible benefits

The provision of a new facility has some short-lived benefits for tourism but wage effects are small and limited to the immediate locality, while some may benefit from property market changes, but overall given the scale of the costs associated with such big projects, the economic benefits are negligible.

That’s not to say there are not other benefits, but the often quoted economic benefits just don’t seem to stack up. Bristol City Council reports about the arena talk about the economic benefits to the city and sub region, but little detail is provided. It talks about 1,000 jobs and £110million extra pumped into the regional economy over 25 years, but again it is hard to find the evidence to back this up, other than the claims are similar to the claims of other similar projects!

So the question for me is how do we ensure that the building of big cultural projects do benefit both the local economy and local people? This is a critical question for the Bristol arena.

Widest benefits

Personally I’m not a great fan of the project, but am willing to concede that many others believe it is necessary and a valuable addition to Bristol’s offer. But with such large sums of public money (over £90m) going into the project, what is being done to ensure the widest benefit to the people of Bristol, from beginning to end of the project?

Bristol has a good tradition of ensuring jobs in major construction projects are accessible to those that most need them. The onsite projects used for Harbourside and Cabot Circus brought the jobs and training to local people, helped them to access them and I believe established targets for major developments included in the scheme.

Let’s hope this type of approach is central to the arena project, so people from the poorest areas of the city, where there are fewer jobs, can access the jobs on offer throughout the project and the permanent jobs available once it is completed.

Local needs

Otherwise I am struggling to see quite how this new arena is of such great benefit to local people.

For sure it will provide a different type of venue to those we currently have and will undoubtedly cause something of a media splash when under construction and finally launched. But what’s the lasting benefit of spending such large amounts of public money, at a time when resources are limited, on one project?

It has the potential to be a showcase for Bristol and it’s easy to see why it is attractive to politicians, but please let’s not forget about local people and local communities and how they need to benefit from such schemes.