Tuesday 19th March 2024,
North Yorks Enquirer

YCBID: On the Ropes?

A Letter to the Editor from regular correspondent WILLIAM PARKIN, drawing attention to a public disclosure by East Riding of Yorkshire Council that should surely be mirrored by Scarborough Borough Council but (guess what) is not. A formal Objection to the Annual Accounts – which means that, like Scarborough Borough Council, ERYC cannot have its Annual Accounts signed off. Now read on . . .

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Dear Editor,

Is there a problem with the Finances of the Yorkshire Coast Business Improvement District (YCBID Ltd)?

Within the Agenda of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Audit Commit meeting on Friday the 27th of January 2023 (the day after the infamous Court Hearing for non-payers), the following excerpt is of considerable interest:

https://downloads.eastriding.org.uk/corporate/committees/audit/agendas/Audit%20Committee%20Agenda%20-%2027%20January%202023.pdf

Is this the reason why Scarborough Borough Council’s Monitoring Officer Lisa Dixon does not want to release the KPMG Report into the VAT treatment as it is all bad news, despite Councillors having been reassured by Mrs Dixon, that all is well and there is nothing to worry about?

Both Councils, plus East Lindsey Council in Lincolnshire (and no doubt others) use Mazars as External Auditors. Reading online, there is a massive VAT issue with the Lincolnshire Coast BID that may cost their ratepayers dearly as East Lindsey did not process BID payments correctly. To an outsider, the deafening silence from SBC suggests it is much the same here with the Yorkshire Coast BID.

Both SBC and ERYC are contractually involved with YCBID and must surely be speaking to each other about it, as they will have the same financial concerns, which, according to the NY Enquirer (http://nyenquirer.uk/tag/vat/) was pointed out to SBC late in 2019 by Mr James Corrigan’s solicitors and appears to have been ignored ever since.

Are ratepayers going to get shafted sorting out this problem because of interpretation errors by the Legal and Accounting Department of both Councils?

Scarborough Councillors should be insisting that whatever is in the KPMG document is published. Ratepayers have paid £5,000 for it and it looks from the outside tas if it is being blocked to save face for someone, or a select few!

I am glad I am not a BID Director. I am sure none of them signed up for to be embroiled in dubious financial issues that have been created on their watch, if not under their control.

Yours faithfully,

William Parkin

Staithes

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