Open Letter to Mr. Dillon – SBC

Open Letter to Mr. Dillon, Scarborough Borough Council

24^th February, 2017.

Dear Mr. Dillon,

During the Full Council Meeting on 9th January 2017, item 8b) in her first statement Helen Mallory said:

It is only right to inform you that during the last 20 years we have paid subsidies to the operators of the Futurist Theatre in the region of £1.6m, this figure does not include maintenance costs which we have also paid. So if members are minded to vote against this recommendation before them I think that I should clarify what the implications are, from a financial point of view, to this council.

I wrote to her and queried this statement. I received the following reply:

From: Cllr.Helen Mallory <Cllr.Helen.Mallory@scarborough.gov.uk>
Sent: 08 February 2017 16:58
To: Ali wilkins
Subject: Re: Futurist

Ali

Thank you for your email.

To be clear, the £1,600,000 did not include maintenance.

I do not have the total figures spent on maintenance.

Best wishes

Helen

Councillor Helen Mallory

Member for Seamer, Crossgates and Irton.

Cabinet Member for Finance, Legal and Procurement.

Telephone 07836 704142

Sent from my Scarborough Borough Council email account

Helen Mallory’s statement to the Full Council Meeting on 9^th January 2017 concerning the money spent on the Futurist over the last 20 years was untrue and this has been verified by Neil Hughes. The maintenance was included in the figure of £1.6m.

She made the small amount of money spent on the Futurist over this period look larger than it actually was and specifically asked members to take this cost to the council into consideration when making their decision.

I say small amount as it is relatively small in comparison to the £3.8m the council has given to the Stephen Joseph Theatre over the same period and which continues.

In her position as Cabinet Member for Finance, Legal and Procurement members will look to her for factual statements concerning figures relevant to any debate which in turn should enable them to make an informed decision. By stating this amount, and making a point of clarifying the implications from a financial point of view to members if they vote against, she gave out false information at a crucial meeting and misled members. Mr. Nick Edwards who was also present did not correct her.

I therefore feel that the outcome of the vote was based on false and misleading statements by this Councillor and should be reviewed.

I request that this letter be read out at the full council meeting on 3^rd March 2017, taken into consideration and included in the minutes of the next full council meeting.

Regards,

Ali Wilkins.

Ali WILKINS, Scarborough. 1st March 2017.