Peer accuses troubled Welcome to Yorkshire of overseeing 'Gary Verity farce mark two'

He said: “This reinforces what I have been saying for a long time - Welcome to Yorkshire is no longer about tourism, its focus is whether it will survive. This is Sir Gary Verity mark two with the secrecy and board members walking away. It is so farcical that if you suggested it for a television show, the producers would turn it down for being unrealistic.”

His comments follow a dramatic two weeks for the agency after it was announced on Monday, September 20 that chief executive James Mason would be leaving on October 22.

At the time, Mr Mason said there was “no link” between his departure and an investigation into unspecified allegations about his conduct. He said he couldn’t comment on any details but denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Mason was appointed in January 2020 to take over the organisation, which had suffered major reputational damage following the resignation of Sir Gary Verity on health grounds in March 2019 amidst allegations about expenses spending and behaviour towards staff.

Three days later after Mr Mason’s departure was announced, board member Nicky Chance-Thompson resigned from the organisation on the grounds that she had been left “very uncomfortable” about the handling of an investigation into a complaint about Mr Mason.

She said her main area of concern was that “governance committee findings on the matter appear to have been dismissed without the board having the opportunity to properly consider them”.

Welcome to Yorkshire, which receives millions of pounds in public funding, continued to refuse to comment on any detail of the investigation “as a matter of principle”.

The following day, it was confirmed that three more board members - Richard Flint, Sarah Tahamtani and Abbi Ollive - had also resigned.

Earlier this week, Welcome to Yorkshire chairman Peter Box announced he would be stepping down from the post at the organisation’s next AGM on November 1. With another board member, Dan Bates, also due to leave at the AGM in line with an earlier agreement, it currently will leave just two remaining board members after the AGM - Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones and North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les.

‘Informal discussions’ about the future of the tourism agency took place between board members on Thursday night but WtY has refused to disclose what was discussed.

An interim board meeting will be held on October 21 - the day before Mr Mason’s departure - and an agenda for the meeting will be made public a week before.

Mr Box told the Wakefield Express earlier this week that he was stepping down after setting the tasks asked of him by local Government leaders - including appointing a new chief executive, refreshing the board and overseeing a governance review which is due to be completed by the AGM in November.

Lord Scriven said that it was telling none of those issues related to assisting tourism in Yorkshire.

“I have been saying for 18 months that the whole purpose of Welcome to Yorkshire is about saving Welcome to Yorkshire and Peter Box’s examples of what the organisation has achieved are all internally focused. They are no longer about supporting the tourism offer in Yorkshire. This organisation is not fit to lead Yorkshire tourism and enough is enough.

“The focus should no longer be how do we save this organisation, it should be what is the next chapter to promote our great tourism offer.”

When asked if Welcome to Yorkshire wished to respond to Lord Scriven’s remarks, a spokesperson sent their previous statement explaining why it is not commenting on the investigation.

“Welcome to Yorkshire can confirm that all complaints are taken seriously by the organisation and its board members. As a matter of principle, Welcome to Yorkshire do not comment on any allegations made against any individual,” it said.

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