Peterborough City Council officers have approved local radio station PCRFM — where a former council leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald is a director with “significant influence or control” — to once again host the city’s Christmas lights switch-on, despite mounting criticism over cost, transparency and the lack of any competitive tendering.
The decision, authorised internally by senior officers without cabinet approval, has left many puzzled about value for money and the blurred line between public duty and private profit.
Direct award to councillor’s station
Responses to CambsNews by the city council reveal that Clare George, the council’s head of safer communities, authorised the appointment of PCRFM to “organise and manage the stage activities” for the event scheduled on November 21, with senior officers “aware of this”.
Asked why the deal was handed directly to PCRFM without competition, the council replied: “PCRFM has been used in the past and has provided a good service, so we have chosen to direct award this year. PCRFM is also a local company with good connections and following and individuals hosting the event are known personalities also with a good following.”
No procurement process. No rival quotes. No formal contract yet signed — but the council already estimates paying around £10,000 for PCRFM’s involvement.
‘We expect it to be in the region of last year’
In correspondence with CambsNews, Amanda Rose, the council’s head of communications, admitted: “No costs have been agreed – that is what that response is saying. But we expect it to be in the region of last year. However, the £10k is what we have estimated we will spend on that element, bearing in mind last year’s cost and needing to make a saving based on the fact we don’t have sponsorship this year.”
Pressed further, Rose confirmed that the figure could still be negotiated lower but added that the council was “working on the basis of last year’s spend”.
The admission means public money is once again likely to flow to a business who’s Director is a sitting city councillor — a situation that governance experts might see as a potential conflict of interest.
Budget breakdown raises eyebrows
The total 2025 Christmas Lights budget stands at £58,000:
- £44,000 for light installation
- £5,000 for the Christmas tree
- £11,000 for the switch-on event
So far, only £4,000 in sponsorship has been secured, forcing the council — already struggling with a £20 million budget gap — to fund the remainder from public coffers.
Despite repeated appeals to local businesses, even the Peterborough Business Improvement District (BID) has declined to contribute financially this year, though it continues to spend advertising money with PCRFM.
‘Difficult to attract sponsorship’
In its written response to CambsNews, the council conceded: “It has been very difficult to attract sponsorship this year for the event. Despite repeated attempts with local businesses, we have raised just £4k in sponsorship. The BID does not contribute financially towards our Christmas event and decorations.”
That admission contrasts sharply with the glossy “Sponsorship Packages” still being promoted by the council — offering businesses bronze, silver, gold and headline packages ranging from £1,000 to £10,000, complete with lamppost banners, stage branding, and even a “photo opportunity with the Leader of the Council.”
The question many are asking: If sponsorships are struggling to sell, why is the council still underwriting a £10,000 payment to a councillor-owned radio station to compère a one-night event?
A pattern of public cash to private media
This year’s payment to PCRFM is only the latest in a long line of council-funded deals that have benefitted Fitzgerald’s private media ventures.
Between 2020 and 2025, CambsNews has identified at least £70,000 in council payments to CAP – Radio Production and Media Buying Services Ltd, another Fitzgerald-controlled company operating from his home in Gretton Close. CAP handled advertising buys for the council during Covid and in subsequent campaigns — without any competitive tendering.
Council records show CAP booked adverts across Heart, Star Radio, Salaam Radio, Cambridge 105, and PCRFM. Yet no breakdown of costs per station was ever provided.
Adding the £35,000 in direct payments to PCRFM between 2022 and 2024 — mainly for Christmas events — the total public money flowing to Fitzgerald-linked enterprises exceeds £100,000.
No procurement, no paper trail
When CambsNews pressed the council for details of these payments, the response was damning:
“Each of these contracts were direct award facilitated. The head of communications who would have led on the Covid campaigns no longer works for the council so we cannot confirm how agreement was reached.”
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For the two most recent campaigns, the council admitted that “comparative costs were not obtained from other media buying agencies or direct from the radio stations.”
In short: no competition, no benchmarking, no transparency.
Free premises, too
PCRFM’s good fortune doesn’t end there. The station operates rent- and rates-free from offices at the council-owned Herlington Centre in Orton Malborne — a legacy arrangement described by former council leader Dennis Jones as a relic of “the munificence splendour of predecessors.”
Jones publicly vowed to review such “legacy benefits,” though the city council is yet to take any visible action.
‘Christmas came early for PCRFM’
Council accounts confirm that PCRFM received:
- £9,000 in 2022
- £12,000 in 2023
- £10,000 in 2024
— all for hosting or managing Christmas light events.
This year’s estimated £10,000 would bring the total close to £41,000 for four consecutive years of “stage management.”
BBC spotlight on council finances
The BBC reported earlier this year that Peterborough City Council had again appealed to businesses to “help save Christmas,” seeking £58,000 in sponsorship to cover the Christmas tree, lights and the switch-on. The story highlighted the authority’s desperate financial position — facing a £20m shortfall and cutting museum hours, park maintenance and cleaning services.
At the same time, the council raised council tax by 4.99% to close its budget gap.
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Yet even in this context of austerity, the council has continued paying PCRFM thousands for festive hosting.
‘Officer decision’ – no political oversight
When CambsNews asked which cabinet member approved PCRFM’s involvement this year, the council’s reply was blunt:
“This was an officer decision that did not require cabinet member approval.”
That revelation is striking. Officers — not elected councillors — authorised a payment to a company owned by a sitting councillor. And though Fitzgerald no longer leads the council, he remains an influential Conservative member.
Public health advertising — a case study in confusion
The same lack of clarity surrounds the Covid-era advertising contracts awarded to Fitzgerald’s CAP Media.
According to council officials, CAP Media was engaged because it could “secure cheaper advertising rates” due to its industry experience. But records show that, during the same period, the joint Cambridgeshire and Peterborough public health team also spent £34,000 directly with Star Radio, bypassing CAP altogether.
No evidence has been released showing whether CAP’s rates were actually cheaper — or whether any saving occurred at all.
Council defence: ‘exceptional circumstances’
In a statement, Adrian Chapman, executive director for place and economy, defended the Covid-era decisions:
“During Covid there was an unprecedented need to share urgent messages quickly and as widely as possible to limit the spread of the virus. This advertising and promotion was paid for using additional Government grants.”
Chapman added that CAP Media was used again in 2023 and 2025 for government-funded campaigns on voter ID and smoking cessation — insisting that no money came from the council’s core budget.
A council under financial strain
Peterborough City Council remains one of the most financially stretched authorities in England. It narrowly avoided government intervention in 2021 after auditors warned of “unsustainable reliance on one-off savings.” This year, it continues to operate under tight spending controls.
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Given this context, the decision to spend another £10,000 on a radio-hosted Christmas event continues to baffle.
Council leader Shabina Qayyum said: “I’m taking this back to Amanda (head of communications) as whilst we can’t stop them as the decision was made before my time I won’t want them to have it in years ahead.”
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