RALI Ceredigion organisers must think they’re being shadowed by a fairy godmother.
Because with last September’s three-day burn-up incurring a multi-thousands deficit, a financially stressed Ceredigion council is currently raiding cash reserves to prop up an event of highly questionable economic benefit to the county. And that’s after earlier shelling out hundreds of thousands.
For a good many people, this motoring extravaganza is a long weekend of high-octane excitement which seems set to continue for at least another two years. Good luck to anyone who enjoys it. For others, and for various reasons, it’s a pain in the neck.
What follows is not a condemnation of this high-profile gathering of the international champagne-shaking, high-earning racing brotherhood.
It’s just that there’s a problem. For, nearly six months after the event, both rally organisers and the council continue to fail to explain why the public should provide a stack of money not only to support, but to underwrite, what is no more than a sectional sporting interest.
This isn’t a matter of just historical note. Because there is every reason to suppose Rali Ceredigion will very soon be back asking taxpayers to cough up again - this time for its 2025 outing. And again in 2026.
In July last year, the council’s Plaid Cymru cabinet obliged Rali without demur, giving it £100,000 backing to help establish the Ceredigion leg of the European Rally Championship (ERC).
They topped that up with £150,000 from a multi-million allocation under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund - the Sunak government’s levelling-up initiative. Money that was meant for job-creation and to stimulate private investment - not things car-rallies are renowned for.
But the easy money didn’t stop there. The cabinet - acting without wider council approval - then went overboard, promising to plough in up to another £250,000 if the event made a loss. Adding up to a potential total input of £500,000. Which just happens to be what Rali asked for in the first place.
This is largesse from an authority which has closed care-homes, done its best to shut village schools for the sake of meagre savings, sent executive pay into orbit, sacked a slew of lower-paid council workers, pushed up council tax demands and piled pressure on domestic budgets through new and substantially increased county-wide parking fees.
Contrast this oppressive style with the ultra-indulgence shown towards Rali Ceredigion. To lob a quarter of a million of public money at a car-rally is reckless. To undertake to plough in another £250,000 if it all goes phut shows contempt for taxpayers.
In mid-October, six weeks after the rally, the council told me it had made an “initial £250k contribution” to the rally, though no accounts had been received. It refused to say what the £250,000 - a combination of council and levelling-up money - had been spent on, giving rise to speculation that it didn’t actually know, perhaps because it hadn’t bothered to find out.
It’s reasonable to conclude, however, that all or part of this money will have been soaked up by a multi-thousands fee payable by the rally to the ERC’s commercial arm, Munich-based WRC Promoter GmbH, which is part-owned by Red Bull.
Last July, a detailed breakdown of Rali Ceredigion costs was shown to the cabinet. It was kept secret from the public - that is, from the people picking up the bill. Why the secrecy? That hoary old local government standby - ‘commercial confidentiality’, a non-excuse which long ago should have been shredded, if only because details eventually emerge anyway in the form of publicly available annual council accounts.
On 10 January, following repeated questioning by this column, it emerged that, despite a continuing absence of accounts, the total paid by the council to Rali Ceredigion had shot up by £76,315 - to £326,315. This was odd.
The money had been paid to Podium Promotions Ltd, a Llandysul company set up to organise last year’s event and run by rally driver Charlie Jukes.
Podium has signed a three-year contract with WRC Promoter for the rights to include Rali Ceredigion as a stage of the European Rally Championship, inevitably giving rise to the assumption that the county council, which has declared itself an official Rali partner, will be asked for repeat cash backing for this year’s and next year’s rallies.
I asked why, and on whose authority, the extra £76,315 was paid to Podium before the authority received, and examined, Rali accounts. The council didn’t reply - a clear breach of its obligation to be both transparent and accountable. It has continued to remain silent on the matter.
Questioning the extra payment is important because July’s cabinet meeting made clear the total £250,000 pledged would not be exceeded without fresh cabinet discussion.
A cabinet minute from the time leaves no room for doubt: “Any further investment beyond this level”, it says, “would be appropriate for cabinet to consider and, whilst there is a business case, with any private sector event or project the onus is on the organiser(s) to make it financially viable and sustainable and not be overly reliant on public funds.
“With that in mind, and noting the organisers’ request for a total £500k investment, cabinet could (if minded) agree to underwrite a further £250k sum towards the 2024 Rali Ceredigion event funded from the Growing The Economy, Supporting Businesses & Enabling Employment Reserve.”
It appears it was this reserve which was dipped into to fund payment of the £76,000-odd, though apparently without any formal cabinet discussion or agreement.
By 10 January, nearly four-and-a-half months after the rally, the council admitted it had paid Podium a total of £326,315.78 - without having seen accounts and with “the final costs of the event” “still to be assessed”.
On 17 January, the authority told me: “The council has only recently received the final account from the organisers of the rally. The council is therefore currently assessing that final account and the associated request for additional funding.
“At this stage, a further grant payment is expected to be made in relation to the 2024 Rali Ceredigion event, but the quantum will only be finalised once the assessment process (which naturally includes queries and challenge) has fully concluded.”
So it’s likely the cabinet will shortly send Podium another cheque - this time for up to £173,685, making the public’s total Rali handout £500,000.
Rally organisers had forecast it would generate another £500,000 from “private sources”. I twice asked Podium how much had been raised, and how much the company was being paid. I got no reply.
As I was winding up this column, I received an email apparently from Bryan Davies, the council’s Plaid Cymru leader. Apparently, because it was unsigned. I had earlier sent him copies of messages to the council press office. He replied: “This is the first time I’ve seen these e-mails, would you be happy for me to discuss them with the relevant officers?” Be my guest, Bryan.
That was it, nothing more. Until the final email, the single line of which reads: “Rough figures show that the rally generated about £4.65 million to Ceredigion’s local economy.” Ah-ha, and what is the evidence to support that figure? There is no reply. Then, or since.
It was as if he was telling me to take it or leave it. I’ll leave it. The figure appears to be nothing more than unrealistic and optimistic guesswork, a shot in the dark, a fantasy.
The local economy? Probably the bulk of businesses in that category with which the rally weekend is likely to have engaged will have been supermarkets and remotely-owned hotels. Any profits from those will have promptly exited the county.
Locally-owned accommodation? On a late summer weekend most of that would probably be fully taken regardless of the rally.
Try coming out of your bunker, Bryan, and being open with the people whose money you’re flinging around.