Council ‘may have swayed result of funding ballot with own votes’
COUNCIL OFFICIALS in Scarborough are facing mounting pressure to pull out of a controversial scheme to raise funds for the district after it was claimed that its own votes in a ballot of local businesses may have helped sway the result.
The “Destination Business Improvement District” for the Yorkshire coast was intended to raise more than £5m over five years by imposing a mandatory levy on every retail, leisure, accommodation and food and drink business with a rateable value of £12,000 or more. The money would be ploughed back into seaside communities from Staithes in the north to Spurn Point in the south, by creating new events, markets and infrastructure improvements.
A vote last year on whether to go ahead with the scheme was passed by a majority of 42 votes, on a turnout of just 29 per cent of eligible businesses.
But opponents have now said that 71 of the votes in favour came from councils involved in the process.
Five Labour and independent councillors have now demanded an extraordinary meeting of the Scarborough authority to debate a motion to suspend its involvement in any Business Improvement District for five years.
They said in a statement: “Selfevidently, without the public authority votes, the proposal would have been soundly defeated by 175 against versus only 146 for.”
The five, headed by Councillors Sam Cross and Norman Murphy, said the 71 votes came from Scarborough, North Yorkshire and East Riding councils, often on behalf of unoccupied properties and those in public ownership.
The statement added: “Where is the democracy? Where is the transparency? Where is the accountability?”
Scarborough Council has not yet confirmed if the request for an extraordinary meeting will be granted.
But it announced last week that it was “pausing” its involvement in the scheme until the Communities Secretary, James Brokenshire, had ruled on the legality of the business ballot.
The funding scheme had been controversial since it was first mooted, with some Scarborough and Whitby councillors questioning whether the “tourism tax” would benefit the towns.
Sandra Turner, a Conservative councillor in Whitby, said at a briefing last month that many businesses were unhappy.
She said: “A lot of businesses have told me that they are not going to pay. I don’t think it is right that people should pay for something that they do not want.
“A number of businesses have said that they were not consulted on during the process. A number of businesses are telling me they feel the BID area is too large.”
Business Improvement Districts, based on an American model and introduced in the UK by the Labour Government 2001, are designed to be partnerships between local authorities and local businesses, who decide how best to spend the money they raise.
Last week, a meeting of around 70 business representatives in Whitby led to the formation of a Yorkshire Coast Levy Payers’ Association.
Graham Collinson from Discovery Accommodation, who was one of those behind the move, said: “It’s about time the council started to listen to what the businesses are saying. I’d like to think common sense will prevail and they will cancel it.”
Where is the democracy? Where is the transparency? Statement by five Labour and independent Scarborough councillors.