The organisers of the City of Culture event received a total of £21.3m from Arts Council England (ACE) and the Department for Culture (DCMS) since 2015, before it went into administration earlier this year.

The trust identified an accounting error in August 2022 which negatively affected its finances, following an independent financial review by ACE.

The report does not say how much the accounting error cost the charity, which had accrued estimated debts of at least £4.1m when it closed – according to Companies House.

In the summer of 2021, the trust’s audit and risk committee found that it was facing acute financial difficulties, with a projected £500,000 cash deficit.

The trust addressed this through achieving savings of around £1.6m, through budget cuts and negotiations with funders, including the DCMS.