Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

Here are some facts about the recent financial performance of Harrogate Convention Centre under the stewardship of Harrogate Borough Council:

1. In the twelve years since 2008, the centre turned a profit on just three occasions; 2009, 2016 and 2017.


2. During that twelve-year period, reported turnover has fallen steadily each year, from £7.1m in 2008 to £4.6m in 2019. This represents a cumulative fall in annual income of 36%, that’s more than a third, to you and me.


3. Prior to 2020, public domain council documents (not least the now surely discredited town plan) stated that the economic contribution of the centre to the town’s wider economy was £57m. Harrogate council now say that this figure is £35m, a discrepancy blamed on the introduction of a new economic impact methodology.

Some of this we knew already and some we now know because the Stray Ferret was in receipt of a leaked, confidential council cabinet report into the performance of and possible future for what is fast overtaking Knapping Mount as the largest white elephant in town.  In short, the report calls for the council to make a wince inducing £46.8m investment to renovate the centre, reduce the effects of its ageing and make the centre quality competitive with other convention destinations across the country.

Council Leader Richard Cooper is not best pleased that the report has reached the public domain and this week used a full meeting of council to threaten to expel, if identified, the leaking culprit from the Conservative Party (if indeed the leaker is a Conservative) and force them to stand down from the council.  Astonishingly, Cooper managed to get the Lib Dem opposition to match this pledge.  Let’s deconstruct all this.

The Harrogate Convention Centre is failing, this largely as a result of cumulative underinvestment and deficient operational oversight, both the responsibility of the current council administration.  The leaked report is sensitive precisely because it shines a light on more than a decade of poor management.  Given the numbers above it’s no wonder that the council wanted the report and its contents kept confidential.  The facts are an embarrassment.

But the performance and future of Harrogate Convention Centre is clearly a matter of public interest, especially if, as the council seems set to do, it is to be in receipt of almost £50m of taxpayer money to keep it going (under the same loss-making political leadership).  To attempt to make decisions of this magnitude and effect under a veil of secrecy is at the very least an insult to the people of Harrogate and, in my view, a dereliction of the duty of public servants to deliver government that is transparent and accountable.

Mr. Cooper tries to argue that the cabinet report contained confidential information and that its release could damage the local economy.  Really?  In the Harrogate Advertiser it was reported that a Harrogate council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that 95% of the leaked document was “already in the public domain.”

Second, let’s look at the politics of this.  Richard Cooper’s threat to expel the leaker doesn’t look good and, from experience, I can tell you is not the right way to handle a leak. To some, Mr. Cooper’s words and actions give the appearance of bullying. Like an angry schoolboy not getting his way, it seems plain to me that this leader is stamping his foot in frustration. Perhaps Mr. Cooper is so used to getting his own way that he was actually just upset by the fact that the leak undermined his beloved authority.  It leads one to wonder whether making threats is an effective way to keep your council team in order or whether there is a point at which it serves to build resentment and create internal opposition.

It beggar’s belief too that Pat Marsh and the Lib Dem group supported Mr. Cooper’s expulsion threat tirade.  The Lib Dems should have celebrated the leak, not least because, however rump, they are the official opposition and it is their role to hold those in power to account.  And boy do they need holding to account in respect of the Convention Centre and their magic money tree spending plans for it.

Finally, congratulations are due this week to Harrogate Town, now proud members of The Football League, for the first time in the club’s history.  Great news indeed for the club, the town and for our economy.  Taking his cue from the MP’s instruction manual, Andrew Jones was quick and fulsome in his praise for Town, his initial breathless account of his own emotional rollercoaster as the game ebbed and flowed spoilt only his reference (before it was corrected) to Notts County’s non-existent equaliser at the start of the second half.  Were you really watching Andrew, or might this have been a little positive PR gone wrong?

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

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Read More: 

• Council leader threatens to expel person who leaked report to the Stray Ferret


• Council approves Harrogate Convention Centre £1m spend

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