Police end expenses probe into ex-tourism boss Verity
Welcome to Yorkshire’s new crisis
FORMER WELCOME to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity will face no action after a police investigation into allegations relating to his expense claims was concluded.
Sir Gary resigned on health grounds as chief executive in March 2019 in the midst of claims about expense spending and his treatment of staff. West Yorkshire Police has confirmed it has now concluded an investigation into allegations about expenses spending and decided no further action is to be taken.
The tourism agency said it was “focusing on the future” in light of the news.
Following an independent inquiry ordered by Welcome to Yorkshire and conducted by forensic accountants BDO which concluded last summer, Sir Gary repaid more than £25,000 to the organisation. BDO had identified £26,000 of claims considered to be “personal” expenses that were “not incurred wholly for the benefit” of Welcome to Yorkshire, a private firm which receives millions of pounds in funding each year from local councils.
Speaking in July 2019 at a press briefing, the agency’s then-interim chairman Keith Stewart said that apart from one claim from another person for less than £200 which had been a “mistake”, all of the personal spending related to Sir Gary and he had repaid the full amount.
The BDO report also highlighted a purchase invoice for £6,600 which “did not reflect the service that was provided to WtY” and the sum was subsequently repaid. Mr Stewart confirmed the repayment had been made by Sir Gary.
The BDO report also said it was unable to determine whether almost £1m of expenses claimed by board members and senior executives at WTY over a six-year period had been “reasonable and proportionate” because of a lack of clear spending policies.
A police spokesperson said: “West Yorkshire Police has now concluded its investigation into allegations in relation to expenses claims made by a former employee of Welcome to Yorkshire. No further action will be taken. We have contacted Welcome to Yorkshire, notifying them of the outcome of the investigation.”
It follow another challenging week for Welcome to Yorkshire, which has struggled to deal with the fallout of Sir Gary’s departure 15 months ago from the organisation which replaced the Yorkshire Tourist Board.
The organisation is seeking emergency funding of £1.4m from local councils but at least three have refused the request to date, with further talks planned.
It comes after an expected £1m of business rates funding from North and West Yorkshire councils was withdrawn because of the knock-on effects of coronavirus on local government funding, while WTY lost in the region of £400,000 from suspending membership fees from its private members during lockdown.
A WTY spokesperson said: “Sir Gary Verity left Welcome to Yorkshire in March 2019. West Yorkshire Police subsequently informed us, following an investigation, that no further action would be taken on allegations regarding an ex-employee.
“We cannot comment further on this matter.
“Over the past year, Welcome to Yorkshire has made significant changes to our governance and leadership arrangements as well as making significant cost savings. We are focusing on the future and how we can move forward and support the economic recovery of the tourism sector in Yorkshire.”
A spokesperson for Sir Gary did not respond to request for comment.
AS NEWS emerges that Sir Gary Verity will face no further police action after he left under a cloud from his role as chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, it is a reflection of the damage caused by his flaws that the new team – chairman Peter Box and chief executive James Mason in particular – are scrabbling to save the ailing agency.
Misgivings that have emerged this week are both fundamental and profound as rural councils like East Riding, Ryedale and Hambleton – all areas dependent on tourism – no longer feel able to support WTY and start to question its purpose at this time.
And that is the first question that needs to be reconciled after all 20 local authorities did not stump up the £1.4m demanded by Mr Box this week. Why? If a more effective dialogue with councils can still be forged, what do town halls want in return? Relationships matter. So, too, does trust.
Then the tourism body needs to show a willingness to work with others who do have the specialist skills to assist in what is a common goal – Yorkshire’s marketing to the world. By way of example, 10 million unique users visit the websites of
The Yorkshire Post, and its sister titles, each month. In contrast, the WTY website Yorkshire.com, says Mr Box, receives just 10 million visitors a year. This newspaper stands ready to help.
Then, transparency. Though Covid-19 has presented unique difficulties, WTY has to be more open. It is no longer its own ‘judge and jury’.
The regret is that it has taken another crisis, and at this time, for it to grasp that its stakeholders – both councils and private members – want a return on their money and trust when this was so self-evident last summer. A swift resolution has to be found if WTY’s new team is to prove itself. If not, the problems will become irreconcilable – they’re that serious – and its demise will further imperil the jobs associated with this £9bn a year industry.