Leeds council paid £179,000 to cash-strapped Welcome to Yorkshire

It follows the decision made by Wakefield councillors this week not to pay its £77,000 share of the extra money requested by the organisation to continue operating.

When asked about whether Leeds City Council would follow suit, the authority put out a statement claiming it would “consider its options” for the future.

However, the council leader Judith Blake told a full council meeting this afternoon that Leeds had in fact already paid its share of the £1.4m requested by the tourism agency.

Coun Blake said: “We note the announcement made by Wakefield Council yesterday in relation to Welcome to Yorkshire, and the decision to rule out giving future funding to Welcome to Yorkshire at the current time.

“Members will be aware that a total of £1.4m of funding support was requested by Welcome to Yorkshire by the North and West Yorkshire 2019/20 business rates pool, with a proposed contribution from Leeds City Council being £179,658.

“Support in principle was reached by West Yorkshire leaders on May 21, 2020, each local authority had to go through its own local authority before funds could be released.

“At the scrutiny board on July 22, the board was advised that it was the intention to continue to support WtY, but no decision had yet been made.

“Agreement was reached on August 4 with Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale to release the funding on August 6 without Wakefield – this was because of the urgency of the situation.

“It was in this context that the director of city development took a delegated decision on August 5 to make a payment of £179,658, which was duly published.

“The Leeds City Council contribution was paid to Welcome to Yorkshire on August 6. Other local authorities have also agreed to make a payment to Welcome to Yorkshire.”

Leader of the Leeds Conservatives group Coun Andrew Carter responded by claiming the whole process had been ‘shrouded in mystery’.

He said: “I would join with Coun Blake to say it is more important than ever that WtY operates in a more transparent and open way.

“Never has there been a time that the tourism industry needs more help, which makes it all the more concerning that this whole process has been, yet again, shrouded in mystery.

“All the decisions made in West Yorkshire have been taken by Labour council leaders in conjunction with chief executives. No opposition parties have been involved, and it has been a real effort to drag any information out of the administrations at all.

“What makes it farcical is that the chairman of WtY is a former leader of Wakefield Council, and it is his council, who have effectively pulled the plug.

“There are a whole series of questions that need answering. Why did we in Leeds release the funding when we only had a draft of the business plans at the time.

“Signing off in a delegated way during Covid is not acceptable in a sensitive area. WtY should be a flagship for the whole of Yorkshire, but only if there is more transparency.”

WtY’s chairman Peter Box warned councils earlier this summer that it would have to close without them collectively coming up with a £1.4m emergency payout.

But Wakefield Council’s cabinet members decided at a meeting on Tuesday that its £77,000 share of the money would be better spent locally.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said later that day: “We note the announcement made by Wakefield Council today in relation to future funding for Welcome to Yorkshire.

“We will be seeking a discussion with our West Yorkshire local authority partners to consider our options and to agree our next steps moving forward.”