Call for review of Grand Departy to be decided by committee

The Press revealed last week that the City of York Council-run Tour de France celebration concert at Huntington Stadium, which made losses of £187,000, had also raised serious safety concerns.

The Event Safety Advisory Group - which takes members from council licensing and events staff and police - said failures included fire exits still locked when the audience began to arrive, tents blocking some emergency exits, and no licence to allow people to use the covered seating areas.

The council's Labour council leader James Alexander has mounted a spirited defence of the authority's actions, saying that although he was disappointed the one concert had been over budget, the Tour overall had been a 'huge success,' with a 'truly significant' economic impact on the city.

A decision on whether to proceed with a review into the “planning, promotion and delivery” of the Grand Departy and other Tour de France events will be taken at today’s learning and culture overview & scrutiny committee.

Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for leisure, who submitted a request for the review, said yesterday he hoped all committee members could support his call, and claimed there had been attempts to downplay the problems and shift responsibility away from those involved.

"A decision by the committee not to investigate this matter would be seen as cynically reinforcing such a whitewash," he claimed.

“An inquiry is needed to get to the heart of what went wrong and explain how and why the Grand Departy concert alone lost £187,000 while the ‘Events and Festivals’ programme lost £252,000 overall.

"It will also allow councillors to investigate how the concert was allowed to go ahead when basic safety measures do not appear to have been in place.

“Until these budget and safety issues are properly addressed many people will have little faith in the council to successfully run any large-scale cultural event.”