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The Herald Scotland
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
What the row over Edinburgh's Tour de France bid really shows
However, that's just the start, as it were, and in 2015 then London Mayor Boris Johnson turned down the opportunity because total costs came in at around £30 million. But a local audit in Bilbao calculated their institutions benefitted from a return on investment ratio of 1:8.5, with €12.2 million generating €103.9 on the back of global exposure. If true, the £1.7 million Edinburgh Council is being asked to contribute for the Grand Départ to set off from the Castle Esplanade in 2027 sounds like good use of public money. It's obviously the view of Edinburgh's Chief Executive Paul Lawrence who, with a tight turnaround for a decision ─ the full agreement must be signed by this Monday ─ approved the spending in principle without first seeking formal council committee approval following detailed scrutiny. Edinburgh is hosting the race (Image: free) This week he was forced to admit it was 'inappropriate' but felt a positive informal discussion with political group leaders in October was enough to proceed. Detailed scrutiny is the theory and depends on who's on the committee and how the politics plays out, as far from a business boardroom as it's possible to imagine. SNP councillor Kate Campbell, never a fan of tourism and instrumental in disbanding the city's Marketing Edinburgh agency in 2019, told Tuesday's Finance committee that 'bringing a huge global event to Edinburgh in the middle of July, is not going to create additional value because … most people agree we are over-touristed at that time.' The arguments about process, decision-making and scrutiny aside, this gets to the nub of the issue, where a major opportunity to sell Edinburgh and Scotland as a destination ─ the racers won't just whizz around the city centre but head off to Dumfries ─ could be lost because of the political bias of anti-growth councillors. The Old Town is indeed chocka during the Festivals, but it is an exaggeration to claim Edinburgh has too many tourists the rest of the year, and despite the Usher Hall, Traverse and Lyceum at the heart of the International Festival, and minutes from Princes Street, in August Lothian Road is hardly La Rambla. It's ironic that Cllr Campbell's SNP-led administration campaigned hard for the introduction of the Tourist Tax, which it is hoped will fund the Grand Départ investment. Either they want visitors to fund an ever-expanding list of things the council can't fund, or they don't. The CEO has some form for cutting procedural corners, going back to 2019 in his previous role as Director of Place when the 2019 Edinburgh's Christmas market went ahead without planning permission, for which he also apologised. As that too involved a very narrow timetable, perhaps the Grand Départ row is another example of it being better to ask forgiveness than permission. But councillors must do the job they are elected to do ─ set policy and scrutinise ─ especially when there are members with as forensic attention to detail as my former colleague, the actuary Phil Doggart, who politely tore into officers on Tuesday. The bigger question is not so much if Mr Lawrence plays fast and loose with the system, but if the system itself is appropriate for a major city facing international competition, where quick decisions and delivery is essential. Given the time taken to progress major initiatives, like New Granton or West Town, the answer must be no. Sometimes risks are justified, such as in late 2022 when previous leader Cammy Day signed off support for the Forth Green freeport without committee scrutiny to avoid SNP and Green councillors derailing the ultimately successful application. The political buy-in, the access to funding and a sympathetic planning and regulatory framework needed for international competitiveness simply aren't there. Read more By comparison, England's regional mayors have significant executive powers. A retread of the Conservative 'Levelling Up' programme or not, the Labour Government has just announced nine English city region mayors will split a £15.6 billion investment in transport alone. The consequential funding boost for Scotland goes to the Scottish Government, in all probability swallowed by the growing social security bill, set to hit just short of £7 billion this year. Last December, the UK Government revealed plans to give the mayors in the seven biggest English regional conurbations new funding settlements to cover housing, regeneration, economic growth, and employment support, to keep pace with the devolved nations. But Scotland is not a city region, and Glasgow and Edinburgh are not powerful city regions with devolved power but effectively in the same league as Leicester and Southampton. Latest ONS data (from 2023) gives a misleading impression of economic health, comparing Edinburgh's gross domestic product per head of £69,809 with London's £69,077, more an illustration of a concentration of well-paid public sector jobs in a population 18 times smaller. Paul Lawrence at least wants to get things done, perhaps in the mould of the late Manchester CEO Howard Bernstein, but he had political permission to get Manchester moving. By comparison, Edinburgh was saddled with the previous CEO's vacuous 2050 City Vision, a colouring-in book where a proper economic strategy was needed, and despite four years' preparation was so poor it had to be relaunched just three years later in 2023. The Grand Départ shows Edinburgh has the assets for international competition but not the effective decision-making structures needed to build on it. Holding out a begging bowl to the Scottish Government while local politicians bicker about priorities ain't no way to run a bike race. John McLellan is a former Edinburgh Evening News and Scotsman editor. He served as a City of Edinburgh councillor for five years. Brought up in Glasgow, McLellan has lived and worked in Edinburgh for 30 years
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Edinburgh council chief: Tour de France decision 'was inappropriate'
He said: 'We should have used committee as a place to get that formal commitment.' It comes after a row broke out last week over allocation of the funding from the local authority's reserves. Unaudited annual accounts tabled in the City Chambers on Thursday, June 19 asked councillors to sign-off the spending - just 11 days before the deadline to sign a formal hosting agreement for the event. An internal memo to councillors the day before suggested leaders of political groups had 'made a decision' to set aside the £1.7m at a private discussion with senior officers last October ahead of formal approval by the council, SNP councillor Kate Campbell said at Thursday's meeting. However, group leaders said while the opportunity to host the Grand Départ and associated costs to the authority were discussed in October, no decision had been made and there had been no further discussions since then. 'We've had no notes to councillors, no notes to committee, nothing to tell us anything about how much, what the value we'd be getting out of this £1.7m to the Tour de France,' Councillor Campbell said. 'Spending £1.7m bringing a huge global event to Edinburgh in the middle of July, to the city centre, is not going to create additional value because that's the time when tourism is most buoyant in Edinburgh and most people agree we are over-touristed at that time.' Read more: Conservative city councillor Phil Doggart delivered a scathing critique of the officers' actions which he said "got me really agitated and really angry". He said: 'There has been zero governance around this. 'The group leaders are not a decision-making body, and for the second time in the last couple of years group leaders have taken a decision which is the responsibility of council. 'It stops now.' Doggart asked who took the decision and why it was taken without councillors being informed, saying it should have at the least been put before the finance committee when it met a week earlier. 'This is unacceptable,' he added. 'We are the council. So let's take back control of the council from the officers.' Councillors referred approval of the £1.7m to the finance committee when Doggart grilled officers on the process followed. He asked them three times 'who took the decision about the Tour de France'. Responding first, Gareth Barwell, executive director of place, said there had been a 'non-binding heads of terms, but no contractual signing, hence the reason we asked members to approve the signing to ring-fence a reserve'. Doggart replied: 'I will try that again, and with an extra clause at the end of it, why was that not brought to councillors, this committee, under [private] B agenda?' Mr Lawrence said: 'It's the view of senior officers and certainly my view that that was a mistake and that should have happened in that process. The report sets out how we are going to remind all colleagues including myself actually that that was inappropriate and should have happened.' Still dissatisfied with the response, Doggart said: 'I still don't think I've got an answer to my not very difficult question: who made the decision?' Mr Lawrence said: 'Councillor I'll try again. Myself and other officers - but myself primarily - were approached around the Tour de France. We consulted with group leaders because of the timing of trying to say are we into this? But we were absolutely clear that consulting with group leaders was not a decision of the council. 'However, given that we had a positive steer I felt we were able to proceed with the ongoing discussions. 'But when a decision needed to be made we needed the resources set aside hence the process that we went through. I now regret and feel we should have either come to culture and communities [committee] before that or this committee [...] but the decision signing on the dotted line, no officer has made such a decision because we haven't set the resources aside to do so.' He added: 'We should have used committee as a place to get that formal commitment. But I think because I felt there was broad cross-party support we could get on with it, set the money aside and come back and talk about the event in detail.' Officers said they hoped the £1.7m could eventually be covered by income from the city's upcoming visitor levy, or 'tourist tax', as they expect the event to generate extra revenue. In March it was announced that Edinburgh would host the start of the 2027 running of the men's Tour de France race. More from our Edinburgh Correspondent: The council has been working with EventScotland, Scottish Government and UK Sport to develop plans for the Grand Départ, but due to 'the commercial sensitivities around the development of these plans,' all discussions have been governed by non-disclosure agreements, a report to Tuesday's meeting stated. It added: 'It was not possible to report to the council [...] while the non-disclosure agreements were in force (prior to 19 March 2025). 'Since 1 April 2025, the council has been preparing its final accounts for 2024/25. As part of this process, officers have been discussing the potential for council reserves to underwrite the financial commitment of the Council to the Tour de France Grand Départ 2027. 'While neither of the committees could have approved the allocation of reserves for the purpose of the Tour de France Grand Départ 2027 (with decisions on the allocation of reserves only able to be taken by the council unless specifically delegated by it), officers recognise that information could have been presented to either or both on the event and the requirement to seek approval for a provision for this to be made in the council's budget.'
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Edinburgh Council chief: Tour De France decision "was inappropriate"
On Tuesday, he said: 'We should have used committee as a place to get that formal commitment.' It comes after a row broke out last week over allocation of the funding from the local authority's reserves. Unaudited annual accounts tabled in the City Chambers on Thursday, June 19 asked councillors to sign-off the spending - just 11 days before the deadline to sign a formal hosting agreement for the event. An internal memo to councillors the day before suggested leaders of political groups had 'made a decision' to set aside the £1.7m at a private discussion with senior officers last October ahead of formal approval by the council, SNP councillor Kate Campbell said at Thursday's meeting. However, group leaders said while the opportunity to host the Grand Départ and associated costs to the authority were discussed in October, no decision had been made and there had been no further discussions since then. 'We've had no notes to councillors, no notes to committee, nothing to tell us anything about how much, what the value we'd be getting out of this £1.7m to the Tour De France,' Councillor Campbell said. 'Spending £1.7m bringing a huge global event to Edinburgh in the middle of July, to the city centre, is not going to create additional value because that's the time when tourism is most buoyant in Edinburgh and most people agree we are over-touristed at that time.' Read more: Conservative city councillor Phil Doggart delivered a scathing critique of the officers' actions which he said "got me really agitated and really angry". He said: 'There has been zero governance around this. 'The group leaders are not a decision-making body, and for the second time in the last couple of years group leaders have taken a decision which is the responsibility of council. 'It stops now.' Doggart asked who took the decision and why it was taken without councillors being informed, saying it should have at the least been put before the finance committee when it met a week earlier. 'This is unacceptable,' he added. 'We are the council. So let's take back control of the council from the officers.' Councillors referred approval of the £1.7m to the finance committee on Tuesday, June 24, when Doggart grilled officers on the process followed. He asked them three times 'who took the decision about the Tour De France'. Responding first, Gareth Barwell, executive director of place, said there had been a 'non-binding heads of terms, but no contractual signing, hence the reason we asked members to approve the signing to ring-fence a reserve'. Doggart replied: 'I will try that again, and with an extra clause at the end of it, why was that not brought to councillors, this committee, under [private] B agenda?' Mr Lawrence said: 'It's the view of senior officers and certainly my view that that was a mistake and that should have happened in that process. The report sets out how we are going to remind all colleagues including myself actually that that was inappropriate and should have happened.' Still dissatisfied with the response,, Doggart said: 'I still don't think I've got an answer to my not very difficult question: who made the decision?' Mr Lawrence said: 'Councillor I'll try again. Myself and other officers - but myself primarily - were approached around the Tour De France. We consulted with group leaders because of the timing of trying to say are we into this? But we were absolutely clear that consulting with group leaders was not a decision of the council. 'However, given that we had a positive steer I felt we were able to proceed with the ongoing discussions. 'But when a decision needed to be made we needed the resources set aside hence the process that we went through. I now regret and feel we should have either come to culture and communities [committee] before that or this committee [...] but the decision signing on the dotted line, no officer has made such a decision because we haven't set the resources aside to do so.' He added: 'We should have used committee as a place to get that formal commitment. But I think because I felt there was broad cross-party support we could get on with it, set the money aside and come back and talk about the event in detail.' Officers said they hoped the £1.7m could eventually be covered by income from the city's upcoming visitor levy, or 'tourist tax', as they expect the event to generate extra revenue. In March it was announced Edinburgh would host the start of the 2027 running of the men's Tour de France race. More from our Edinburgh Correspondent: The council has been working with EventScotland, Scottish Government and UK Sport to develop plans for the Grand Départ, but due to 'the commercial sensitivities around the development of these plans,' all discussions have been governed by non-disclosure agreements, a report to Tuesday's meeting stated. It added: 'It was not possible to report to the council [...] while the non-disclosure agreements were in force (prior to 19 March 2025). 'Since 1 April 2025, the council has been preparing its final accounts for 2024/25. As part of this process, officers have been discussing the potential for council reserves to underwrite the financial commitment of the Council to the Tour de France Grand Départ 2027. 'While neither of the committees could have approved the allocation of reserves for the purpose of the Tour de France Grand Départ 2027 (with decisions on the allocation of reserves only able to be taken by the council unless specifically delegated by it), officers recognise that information could have been presented to either or both on the event and the requirement to seek approval for a provision for this to be made in the council's budget.'
Scotsman
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- Scotsman
How Edinburgh can get rid of its disgraceful and dangerous pothole menace
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Given Edinburgh is Scotland's capital – and a city that attracts millions of tourists every year – the state of its roads is an absolute disgrace. We may live in one of the world's wealthiest countries, yet the city's worst roads look like they have been transplanted from one of the poorest. Staggeringly, there were more than 20,000 potholes in the city last year, with nearly one in three of its roads in need of some kind of repair work. The council has now estimated that it would cost nearly £86 million to ensure all its roads are 'generally in a good state of repair'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Given the council's budget for roadworks and surface treatment is just £12m for this financial year, it seems clear that Edinburgh will have to put up with this blight for a long time to come – unless something changes. Edinburgh's streets have become littered with potholes of various sizes in recent years (Picture: Jane Barlow) | PA Pothole threat to Tour de France Potholes and poorly maintained roads are a serious problem for all road users, not just motorists, with people trying to cross the road, particularly elderly pensioners, and cyclists among those at risk. In two years' time, Edinburgh will host the 'Grand Départ' of the Tour de France and the eyes of cycling fans all over the world will be fixed on the city's streets. This may be bad enough for Scotland's international reputation, but if one of the cyclists were to crash because of a pothole, the resulting furore would be considerable. A cynical way to stop this from happening would be to fix the streets on the Tour's route, but that would simply highlight the lack of action elsewhere. Smooth streets for Tour de France cyclists, bone-shaking, axle-shattering misery for Edinburgh's own citizens. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, this is a solution. From July next year, Edinburgh will impose a five per cent 'tourist tax' that is expected to raise £50m a year, with the money to be spent on infrastructure improvements. We suggest fixing the city's streets would be far and away the most popular infrastructure improvement. And if visitors effectively paid for Edinburgh to get rid of its pothole menace, then complaints about over-tourism would diminish markedly.
Arab News
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
The Tour de France is returning to the UK in 2027 with a start from Edinburgh
PARIS: Britain will host the Grand Départ of both the Tour de France and the women's version of the race in 2027, organizers said Wednesday. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport
