Ex-employees hit out over grant to TIC

The formerly council-run Skipton TIC was re-opened by a private company last year amid concerns about the employment rights of existing staff. Originally the council offered transfer payments of £25,000 over three years to the proposed new owners, the Jackson Partnership, to help get it on its feet. When the transfer fell through the £25,000 was lost. Yet without any contractual obligation a few months later the council has offered almost the same amount of money to the company as a "donation."

In March 1999, just before the transfer was due to take place, TIC employees Maureen Pearce and Carole Metcalfe were told they would be made redundant when the council ceased ownership but then be rehired immediately by the new Jackson Partnership.

Not having seen their new contracts but knowing their terms and conditions would be altered, the women sought legal advice and found that their treatment could be construed as unfair dismissal.

Under the transfer, the employees could expect to be transferred along with the business keeping the same terms and conditions.

At the 11th hour the transfer collapsed. The Jackson Partnership set up Skipton TIC 1999 Ltd to run the business and the women lost their jobs.

When the setting up of the new TIC was completed the women continued to press their case claiming a transfer had still taken place. Evidence was gathered from local businesses which provided tourist leaflets to the TIC. Correspondence claimed that stock was passed straight onto the new owners.

Before the case got to a tribunal both the Jackson Partnership and the council made a financial offer to the former employees. The compensation they received only covered their legal expenses which were reduced by solicitors acting for the women, JP Mewies and Co to ensure they were not out of pocket.

This week, Justin Birch, of JP Mewies, said questions needed to be answered as to why only this private enterprise should be given council money when no other company appeared to have been considered for a donation.

Former employee Carole Metcalfe said: "I think it is disgraceful that they are giving them this money considering I lost my job on the pretence that they could no longer afford to keep the TIC going. This money could have kept us going for another year."

Mrs Pearce said she was upset by the council's recent actions: "I am disgusted but not surprised."

She added that a town councillor was now employed there and the former town clerk, who was involved in aspects of the transfer, was now the manager: "I consider myself very, very fortunate to have found another job in the industry and I genuinely feel for my colleagues paid and voluntary who haven't," said Mrs Pearce. "We were an extremely happy and effective team."

A spokeswoman for the Jackson Partnership said the company stood by the information contained in a recent letter to the Craven Herald. It stated: "The grant will go directly to the tourist information centre to fund its past, present and future investment and development, the overall promotion of Skipton as a centre of excellence for inbound tourism and the creation of a community TIC.

Deputy clerk to Skipton Town Council Pat Daley said: "The decision to donate to the TIC was nothing to do with the transfer that was finished. That was stopped at the end of March, this is nothing to do with that."

She added that under the Local Government Act a local authority was empowered to make donations for the furtherance of tourism in the area. Any rate payer could study the council's accounts at the end of the financial year.

Coun Dennis Hall, who resigned as chairman of the town council's finance and general purposes committee in protest at the decision to donate the money, said this week: "I am distressed that the committee felt the need to go against the good professional advice on this issue and award an extremely generous grant to a private company."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.