Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
07
Sept
Harrogate Convention Centre: Council maintains bookings secrecy
North Yorkshire Council has again refused to reveal how often Harrogate Convention Centre is booked.
The council-owned conference and exhibition venue operates at a loss and is subsidised by taxpayers. A 2024 council report put the annual loss at £2.7 million.
This has sparked concerns about how often the centre is used, and why the council has paid £42,500 to hold senior managers’ meetings at the Pavilions of Harrogate two-and-a-half miles away.
The Stray Ferret submitted a freedom of information request on August 6 asking for a list of daily bookings since 2023.
We did not request any financial data, only the names and dates of organisations which have booked it.
The council refused to release the information on the grounds that it “would be likely to prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of the council”, which prompted us to request an internal review of the decision.
We argued that the council should be transparent, particularly as taxpayers’ money is at stake, and that the public interest in disclosure should outweigh the commercial concerns, particularly as we have not requested an financial data.
However, the internal review upheld the council’s original decision.
Robert Beane, the council’s senior information governance officer, told us it recognised “disclosure is generally better than secrecy” and “a public authority should be transparent about all its activities” but added:
The Harrogate Convention Centre operates in a competitive environment. If its rival venues learn about the overall level of occupancy, what periods are busy and what are not, and who all its clients are, they may be able to adjust their bids to potential clients in order to gain a competitive advantage.
The Stray Ferret has contacted the Information Commissioner’s Office, which regulates the Freedom of Information Act 2000, asking it to review the council’s decision.
We revealed last month that the convention centre generated £129,000 less income in the first quarter of the current financial year than budgeted.
The council is spending £9.6 million upgrading Studio 2 at the venue to boost bookings. The cost of the project has risen from £7.1 million.
0