Liberal Democrats have attacked Labour run City of York Council for refusing to reveal the full expected costs of staging next year’s Tour De France.
Hosting Stage 2 of next year’s Grand Départ is already scheduled to cost York taxpayers around £1.3 million with speculation that these costs will increase when full details of the route are announced next week – planned road resurfacing work along the Stage 1 route has seen Leeds’ expected spending rise to over £3 million. The Government is providing a contribution of £291,000 to York, but confirmed in September that “no more money” is available.
At last week’s Full Council the Liberal Democrat Group challenged Labour to provide a full business case for investment on the event. They called for this to include details of the money already committed, expected future costs and which budget these costs would come from, detailed income projections, a cost/benefit analysis and information on how the success of the event will be measured.
Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on City of York Council, commented:
“Hosting the Tour De France is a huge opportunity for York, but we need to make sure the costs are kept under control. Originally the Council spent £50,000 to secure the race, then it was a £500,000 hosting fee, and earlier this month a further £870,000 was put into staging the event. The costs have consistently gone-up and we need to know if the Council expects these to continue to rise and if they do where the money is going to come from.
“We need a full business case for the expenditure as well as details on precisely how much income the Council expects the event to generate. At the moment there are lots of unanswered questions, including why it is costing York £1.3 million to host the race, but Sheffield only £900,000 and how much any planned road resurfacing will cost. We also need robust performance measurements in place so we can actually judge whether the event has been the success it could be for local businesses and residents.
“All 22 Labour Councillors present voted against providing a business case last week. Residents have a right to know what the Council expects to spend and where the money will come from. They will wonder why Labour were so keen to deny them this right. The Tour de France is a great opportunity to show the world what we already know; that York is a fantastic place, a place that knows how to put on a good show. But in doing so the Council must not forget that it is taxpayers’ money they are spending and we need more than the vague estimates and promises offered by Labour so far.”
The Liberal Democrat amendment defeated at last week’s Full Council:
“Council resolves to ask officers to produce a full business case for hosting the Tour De France by November 1st. This will include a cost-benefit analysis of the project, expenditure already committed, expected future costs, details of which budget(s) committed and planned expenditure is coming from, anticipated risks, projected income, and a robust performance measurement method”.