Harrogate Borough Council to write-off £83,000 of ‘irrecoverable’ debt

Councillor Graham Swift, the council’s cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, approved two reports today that said the debts would be “uneconomic to pursue further”.

The first report includes details of £44,167 worth of miscellaneous debt with the largest being two Harrogate Convention Centre invoices from Kerrison Craft Exhibitions Ltd worth £19,940.

The report says the exhibitions firm has been wound up and “there is little hope of any remuneration”.

The company was due to organise The British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) and British Craft and Design Fair at the convention centre until 2025.

A Harrogate Borough Council spokesperson said the event owner affiliated to Kerrison Craft Exhibitions Ltd has died.

Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, said: “We are deeply saddened by the untimely death of the event organiser.

"We are hopeful the event will be purchased by an alternative organiser in the future.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted the company’s liquidator, Opus LLP but it declined to make a comment.

Of the £44,167, there is also £3,717 worth of debt related to planning and £3,854 to waste and recycling.

The council will be able to recover £6,460.94 in VAT.

The report explains why Harrogate Borough Council has decided not to pursue these debts any further: “The costs involved are too great, the probability of success is too slim or there are simply no further legal options available.”

Meanwhile, a second report was approved by Councillor Swift related to writing-off £39,059.11 from former council housing tenants.

However, it says the ‘substantial majority’ of this sum will be written-off because the tenant has died.

Although the report adds that some debts are from tenants who “abandoned their homes and remain untraceable”.