Liberal Democrat councillors are calling for an inquiry into the ‘Grand Departy’ music concert as part of a cross-party scrutiny review.
Meanwhile the minutes of two meetings of the Councils Safety Advisory Group have confirmed that there was internal concern about the organisational arrangements for the concert.
Safety committee meeting July 2014 Click to read original minutes
The minutes suggest that, had the target audience numbers actually attended, then safety concerns could have been high.
The minutes of the meetings can be read by clicking the links below.
Safety Advisory Committee 30th June 2014 (pre concert)
Safety Advisory Group 23rd July 2014 (post concert)
Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, has submitted an official request for a scrutiny review into the “planning, promotion and delivery” of council organised events for the Tour De France.
Last week it was revealed that City of York Council overspent its budget for the Tour by £60,000 with the ‘Events and Festivals’ programme losing taxpayers £252,000.
The poorly received ‘Grand Departy’ music concert at Huntington Stadium was the single biggest loss. The event cost £206,000 to stage but disappointing ticket sales meant only £19,000 in revenue was brought in, producing an overall loss of £187,000.
Cllr Cuthbertsoncommented:
