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20
Nov
Council forced to release Harrogate Convention Centre figures after Stray Ferret freedom of information challenge
North Yorkshire Council has been forced to release figures about Harrogate Convention Centre after the Stray Ferret challenged its original decision to withhold the information.
The future of the publicly owned conferences and events venue has been a major topic this year.
It consistently makes a loss but, according to its own estimates, generates £45 million a year for the local economy, particularly hospitality firms.
The Stray Ferret revealed in April that the council had scrapped redevelopment plans after spending £1.9 million on consultants. They said the cost of the redevelopment had soared to £57.2 million.
Instead, it hired another firm of consultants — London-based 31Ten — for £23,000 to come up with plans for another way forward. Its findings have not yet been released but a public-private partnership appears the likeliest outcome.
With a major decision looming, and considerable public funds at stake, we submitted a freedom of information request in April asking how many days the centre’s 2,000-seat auditorium has been booked in the last five years.
The council refused to release the figures and upheld its decision in June when we requested an internal review.
It said:
The vast majority of bookings at the Harrogate Convention Centre are private events and potential or existing customers may seek to use past occupancy levels in negotiations. Disclosure of past bookings would therefore likely impact future negotiations and would likely negatively affect the council's ability to offer a competitive rate for the space.
We asked the Information Commissioner’s Office, which can force public bodies to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, to investigate.
It agreed to do so and as a result, the council has now finally released the information. It told us:
North Yorkshire Council has revisited your request and on reflection have concluded that although the requested information does carry some commercially sensitivity, the risks to North Yorkshire Council’s commercial interests through disclosure are not high enough to meet the threshold of likelihood required when applying Section 43(2).
Section 43 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act says disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person.
Last month's LGA Conference at Harrogate Convention Centre.
Booked one in five days
The figures reveal the auditorium was used 382 times in five years, which works out at an average of 76 days a year. This works out at about once every five days.
Figures for 2020/21 were not included because the centre was closed due to covid.
2018/19 – 78 days
2019/20 – 97 days
2021/22 – 37 days
2022/23 – 78 days
2023/24 – 92 days
The response said “occupancy levels are complex” because large scale events utilise other spaces within the venue, but not the auditorium. It added:
When these events are booked, it is not possible for the auditorium to be booked out on the same day. This is because it is not possible to reach the auditorium without mixing delegates from each event, or the route to the auditorium is not accessible.
The auditorium is one of the largest in the country and gives Harrogate a commercial advantage over other northern venues when it comes to attracting major events.
It has an extendable stage, zoned lighting and 550 seats can be removed to create a bigger stage.
It was described as one of Harrogate’s ‘key offerings’ in a recent article on Exhibition News, which listed the UK’s 10 largest exhibition venues. Harrogate placed seventh but was the biggest in northern England.
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