Forfeiture Committee to consider whether to revoke Sir Gary Verity's knighthood

In a letter about Sir Gary seen by this newspaper, an official from the Cabinet Office states, “we can confirm that the Forfeiture Committee will consider this case”.

The letter has been sent to Skipton resident Josh Horne, who had contacted the Cabinet Office in September asking for the matter to be considered as he does not believe Sir Gary to be a “fit and proper person to retain a knighthood”.

The Forfeiture Committee considers cases for removing honours individually and their recommendations are submitted through the Prime Minister to the Queen for approval.

The reasons for revocation include being found guilty of a criminal offence; being censured by a regulatory or professional body “or any other behaviour that is deemed to bring the honours system into disrepute”.

Sir Gary has not been convicted of any criminal offence nor censured by any regulatory or professional body.

The committee does not carry out investigations itself but reflects the findings of official investigations and makes a recommendation of whether or not the honours system has been brought into disrepute.

Sir Gary was awarded a knighthood in 2015 for services to tourism after bringing the opening stage of the Tour de France to Yorkshire the previous year.

But he left Welcome to Yorkshire on health grounds in March 2019 in the midst of allegations about expense spending and behaviour towards staff.

Welcome to Yorkshire subsequently launched two independent inquiries while Sir Gary repaid £44,413 to the organisation, which is a private company but receives millions in public funding from local councils.Lawyers for Sir Gary said while expenses had been signed off, “on review it was agreed some errors had been made and Sir Gary was content to voluntarily reimburse Welcome to Yorkshire for monies owed”.

An independent inquiry ordered by Welcome to Yorkshire and conducted by forensic accountants BDO examined £900,000 of expense claims by WtY senior managers and board members over a six-year period.

They were unable to determine whether the majority were “reasonable and proportionate” due to a lack of clear policies and details about the business purpose behind the spending.

BDO did identify £26,000 worth of claims considered to be “personal” expenses that were “not incurred wholly for the benefit of WtY”. In July 2019, Keith Stewart, WtY’s then-interim chairman, said that apart from one claim for another person for less than £200, all of the personal spending related to Sir Gary and he had repaid the full amount.

A parallel investigation into WtY’s management culture - amid allegations of bullying - found he had “fallen short” of the highest performance and leadership standards reasonably expected of a chief executive.

Sir Gary’s lawyers said at the time that while he accepted “his passion to succeed may on occasion not have been in-step with present day cultural norms”, many of the claims against him “were wildly wide of the mark”.

West Yorkshire Police also investigated the expenses spending issue but announced in June 2020 it had determined no further action would be taken.

The letter from the Cabinet Office to Mr Horne, sent on December 16, states it is unable to give a timescale on its considerations, but will keep him informed on progress.

Mr Horne, a retired journalist, previously wrote to then-West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson to question why the police investigation had resulted in no further action being taken.

The commissioner’s office replied that the findings of the BDO investigation made public by Welcome to Yorkshire “would have undermined any prosecution” had any criminal offences had been found.

Mr Horne said he had decided to raise the issue with the Forfeiture Committee because of his strong feelings about what had occurred involving the use of taxpayer money.

In his letter to the Forfeiture Committee, he said: “As far as I am concerned, Mr Verity is not a fit or proper person to retain a knighthood and for him to keep his makes a mockery of the honours system.”

Lawyers for Sir Gary said their client did not wish to comment on the matter when contacted.

The Cabinet Office said it was unable to confirm what official findings the Forfeiture Committee will assess because its process is confidential.

What the Cabinet Office letter to Mr Horne said

The letter from the Cabinet Office to Mr Horne, sent on December 16, states: “Thank you for your letter of November 19 to the Cabinet Office regarding Gary Verity.

“We have received advice from the Secretariat to the Independent Committee as follows.

“An honour can be revoked on the approval of the sovereign following advice from the Forfeiture Committee.

“The Committee is able to consider cases where individuals are deemed to have brought the honours system into disrepute.

“Examples of this might include where that person has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment exceeding three months or where they have been censured/struck off etc by the relevant regulatory agency or professional body for actions or failures to act which are directly relevant to the granting of the honour.

“However it is important to note that the committee is not an investigative body and is only able to reflect official findings by those bodies.

“Given the circumstances, we can confirm that the Forfeiture Committee will consider this case.

“We are afraid we cannot give a timescale, but we will keep you informed on progress.”

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