Council agrees to end free Empire tickets arrangement

A political row over complimentary Empire Theatre tickets for councillors has finally ended after city leaders agreed to scrap the arrangement.

The Empire is owned by Sunderland City Council but operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG).

Under the current contract, a small number of tickets are offered to councillors for shows running more than five consecutive performances.

Labour said the scheme allowed councillors to provide feedback on shows and engage with residents, with tickets also distributed to looked after children and care homes for certain performances.

They added no tickets have been accepted by councillors since June 2019.

At a full council meeting on January 29, councillors agreed to continue declining tickets until the end of the current ATG contract and to remove complimentary tickets from any future agreement.

Tickets are normally provided by ATG to the council before being offered to all political groups through the leader’s office.

A row over the agreement originally broke out in May 2019 when newly elected opposition councillor, Heather Fagan, was angered by an offer of free tickets, which she felt councillors should not receive.

At this week’s council meeting, the Lib Dem group tabled a motion calling for tickets for councillors to be scrapped, stating it “impacted on the reputation of elected members.”

Coun Martin Haswell noted the Empire Theatre’s role as a tourist attraction and praised its work with community groups across the city.