Welcome to Yorkshire boss: Do councils want us to survive?

Peter Box, the former leader of Wakefield Council, concedes that the Covid-19 crisis has made it harder to undertake the necessary reforms to the agency.

But he still believes that a subscription model is the way forward if his organisation is not to be so dependent on local government for at least half of its funding.

The Labour politician’s comments come as the WTY board prepare to meet later today after he wrote to every Yorkshire council and warned them that the organisation will fold unless they stump up £1.4m for the remainder of the financial year. Mr Box likened this to “buying time” in an interview with this newspaper.

WTY – which brought the Tour de France to the county in 2014 – is still coming to terms with the fallout from the resignation of former chief executive Sir Gary Verity in March last year in a series of scandals.

It then lost £1m of business rates funding that had been due from authorities in North and West Yorkshire – a consequence of Covid-19 is that many firms are currently exempt from such payments.

And the decision of WTY to suspend membership fees has cost the organisation another £400,000, explained Mr Box who was appointed to his current role late last year.

It comes after he sent his blunt letter to councils on Tuesday – the day Boris Johnson announced another relaxation of Covid lockdown restrictions – to say that his board will be asked “to consider the closure of Welcome to Yorkshire” without “commitment from all local authorities”.

“The majority of councils at the moment have agreed to support emergency funding, recognising the importance of tourism to Yorkshire’s economy,” Mr Box told The Yorkshire Post.

“This is important particularly bearing in mind the Government’s announcement on Tuesday that parts of the tourism industry can reopen in early July.”

Confirming the £1.4m was for the 2020-21 financial year, he said it would provide time to develop “a different funding model that will see Welcome to Yorkshire move away from dependency on local authority funding”.

He also said he understood the financial challenges facing all councils, but stressed that tourism was worth £9bn a year to the region.

However he declined to comment on the next steps if councils like Ryedale, and, potentially, others, choose to withhold their share of money. In the case of Ryedale District Council, it is £33,000.

“I think it is too early to say. We need to wait and see what the entirety of the response is,” he said. “If, out of 20 Yorkshire authorities, if only one didn’t feel able to support, a decision would have to be made.

“It depends how much support there is across Yorkshire for Welcome to Yorkshire to survive.”

Mr Box said the Covid-19 lockdown had denied him the opportunity to meet councils and develop a stronger working relationship with them.

He also accepted that more needed to be done to assure local authorities – and visitor attractions – that they were receiving value for money for their grants and subscriptions.

However Mr Box offered no explanation for WTY’s failure to publish the minutes of its April board meeting, despite previous promises to be more transparent. “I don’t know about the April meeting,” he said.

Pressed about the absence of a public agenda for today’s board meeting, he responded “There are no papers because it is primarily, and simply, to report on the financial situation and to give a report on the discussions held with local government.”

The crisis comes after The Yorkshire Post revealed that up to 20,000 jobs in North Yorkshire’s tourism and hospitality sector are set to be lost due to the effects of Covid-19, with a 13 per cent reduction in the local economy now being forecast.

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Ryedale Council – it feels like a gun is being held to our head

THE leader of Ryedale District Council has suggested that it might be for the best if Welcome to Yorkshire actually folds so that a new tourism body can be formed and make a fresh start.

The comment is made in the response sent by the authority’s leader Keane Duncan to Welcome to Yorkshire chair Peter Box in which he likens the tourism body’s negotiating tactics to “a gun held to our heads”.

The Conservative councillor wrote: “I recently met with your chief executive (James Mason) and I was pleased with the honest, frank discussion. I really do not envy the task before him and the team at this critical time.

“But, sadly, many Ryedale councillors remain unconvinced about the future viability and credibility of the organisation.

“As leader, I cannot go against that strength of feeling. More importantly, I feel that the tourism sector itself is deeply doubtful of WTY’s performance. It falls to the organisation to prove its value via its actions and outputs at this critical time. Until we see those results, and the financial outlook improve, we feel it would be reckless to contribute further taxpayer money.

“It is clearly unsustainable and unfair for local authorities to be asked to hand over greater and greater amounts of cash, every time told that if we do not do so then WTY will fold. It feels like a gun held to our heads.”

The letter concludes: “I really do wish you luck, but if ultimately you can not get back on to a level footing, the best thing for the public purse and for the tourism sector at this difficult time might actually be for WTY to fold and a successor organisation to be established in a managed and controlled way.”

Crisis overshadows Yorkshire Card launch

WELCOME TO Yorkshire’s cash crisis casts a shadow over the launch of its so-called Yorkshire Card that took place on Monday.

It was hailed as a brand new initiative to encourage support for the county’s businesses from across the world following Covid-19.

Chief executive James Mason hopes recipients will then be encouraged to spend money on the card at attractions in the county.

He also unveiled a new Affiliate Member venture so businesses can access a raft of benefits including weekly industry newsletters.

Yesterday WTY sent out details of a ‘‘Yorkshire Attractions Recovery Webinar’’ planned for Monday to help attractions prepare to reopen.