The other council involved in the practice of preventing sessions and also expecting to be rewarded for it, is Oxford City Council.

Oxford's bid to become a European Capital of Culture 2008, a bid backed by the two universities, Southern Arts, the City and the County Councils, has just taken a big leap forward.

Joe Simpson has been selected to co-ordinate the bid. He will be working in Oxford during the next ten months and will prepare the City's submission by the end of March 2002. His task will be to create a shared vision involving the different partners and the local community and to develop this vision into a successful bid. Some of the options he may consider when putting together the bid include extending the City's range of music venues, providing wider access to the city's magnificent architectural heritage and running a festival of different art forms and community activities across the county.

A short list of the top contenders will be published in the autumn of 2002, with the winner being chosen by the Prime Minister in spring 2003. The Government will also award a mark of cultural excellence to all the cities short-listed and these will become recognised centres of culture.

- from Southern Arts Newsletter 34, July/August 2001