Lord Scriven blasts Welcome To Yorkshire's "major excesses" and "toxic culture" as he calls for extension to FoI rules

Lord Scriven has used a debate in the House of Lords to call for an extension to Freedom of Information (FoI) laws, prompted by the "recent scandals" at Welcome to Yorkshire (WtY).

The former leader of Sheffield City Council said "no one really knows what has been going on" at the county's tourism agency, "due to the lack of Freedom of Information".

WtY is not subject to current FoI laws as it is run as a private company, despite receiving around half of its income from public funds, the peer said.

He went on to list the financial contributions it had received, over the last four years, from five local authorities:

• East Riding of Yorkshire Council: £596,000

• North Yorkshire County Council: £438,000

• Leeds City Council: £800,000

• Sheffield City Council: £250,000

• Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council: £193,000

"In reality, [Welcome to Yorkshire] does not get this money from the council," Lord Scriven said: "It gets it from council tax payers who have a right to know how and who is spending their money."

Although he noted praise for the agency, in bringing the Tour de France and the Tour de Yorkshire to the region, he said: "the ends have got to justify the means".