Harrogate Borough Council is set to continue paying its subscription to the troubled tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire, despite an increase in the cost.
Borough council officials confirmed to the Stray Ferret that the authority will honour its payment this year, which will be more than £14,000.
Councils across North Yorkshire are to consider whether to help keep Welcome to Yorkshire afloat after the tourism body upped its subscription fee for local authorities by some 45 per cent.
The proposal has been met with criticism from leading district councillors with some responding to the increase by calling for the stream of public money that has been handed to WtY to be permanently plugged or for a decision to be postponed.
However, a spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said it would continue to honour its subscription until there was any change in the regional approach to the tourism body.
They said:
“We recognise the need for an organisation that has a Yorkshire wide focus to help develop the Yorkshire brand in order to attract visitors to the region.
“This enables us to build on the successes of Visit Harrogate, and the reputation we have as an events destination, to drive both leisure and business visitors to the Harrogate district.
“Unless and until there is any change to the regional approach to tourism we confirm that subscriptions will continue to be paid in accordance with our existing agreement.”
The tourism body has admitted making “big mistakes” in the way it spent taxpayers’ money, including spending more than £430,000 removing and investigating its former chief executive, Sir Gary Verity, following concerns over his expenses claims.
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In recent years numerous local authorities have threatened to withhold funding from WtY, at a time that its finances have been hit hard by the pandemic.
An officers’ report to a meeting of Richmondshire District Council’s corporate board on Tuesday next week states the subscription fee for local authorities was initially “modest” at £1,300 a year until 2012, when the rate was raised to £10,000.
The cost of the subscription for next year has risen to £14,515, which WtY has justified on the basis that there had been no increase in the six previous years.
Criticism from leading councillors
Stuart Parsons, leader of the Independents group on North Yorkshire County Council, said WtY’s page views for Richmondshire were far inferior to the privately-run Richmond Online tourism website, which was receiving one million hits a month.
He said:
“What have we been getting out of Welcome to Yorkshire? Nothing but scandal. Originally it was supposed to be immediately self-funding, but it has always relied on massive public contributions.
“Councils should not be giving any more money to an organisation that has not demonstrated it is making an effective difference to our lives and our economy.”
Lord Scriven, the former leader of Sheffield City Council, has said WtY needs to adopt a self-funded model.
However, Cllr Gareth Dadd, executive councillor for finance at North Yorkshire County Council, said the authority would examine any request for funding from WtY “in the light of its performance and our ability to pay”.
