HOUSE OF KEYS, TUESDAY, 28th APRIL 2015
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1.4. TT World Series – Meetings with potential partners

The Hon. Member for Douglas North (Mr Houghton) to ask the Minister for Economic Development:

Whether the Sports Consultancy has met appropriate heads of Government or local authorities in countries which may have been identified as a participating partner in the TT World Series; and if not why not?

The Speaker: Question 4. Hon. Member for Douglas North, Mr Houghton.

Mr Houghton: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I beg leave to ask the Minister for Economic Development whether the Sports Consultancy has met appropriate heads of government or local authorities in countries which may have been identified as a participating partner in the TT World Series; and, if not, why not?

The Speaker: Hon. Member, Mr Skelly.

The Minister for Economic Development (Mr Skelly): Gura mie eu, Loayreyder.

As part of the original feasibility study, the Sports Consultancy engaged with governments, city authorities, private organisations and venues across the globe to test interest in the TT series concept. This yielded positive responses from the Middle East, the Far East, Europe, Africa, Australasia and South America. However, no specific locations have been agreed yet.

The promoter will be responsible for developing the series, including choosing the locations, subject to some restrictions set by the Department and Government in advance in order to protect the interest of both the TT and the Isle of Man. It is important that the promoter develops the TT Series, including the location of individual events, as it is the promoter that will be responsible for delivering the series.

As no locations have yet been chosen, it cannot be part of the Sports Consultancy’s remit to have discussions with potential hosts. It is important to remember that at this stage we are exploring whether we believe the proposed TT Series is the right way forward for what is such an important part of community, our economy and international awareness.

Until we are satisfied that the TT Series is the choice, it is inappropriate for us to enter into commitments with other locations. Having said that, the Sports Consultancy has been having ongoing briefings and updates with those national federations, motorsport promoters and city authorities which have demonstrated an ongoing enthusiasm of hosting a TT Series event.

The Speaker: Mr Houghton.

Mr Houghton: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The Minister will understand that there is some £¼ million being spent on this so far and they have not been able, as he states, to discuss with potential hosts… the Sports Consultancy.

Can he really tell me exactly, precisely what they have done for £¼ million, other than, it appears, send them out… enter into a bit of correspondence with each of those potential hosts?

The Speaker: Minister to reply.

It is a considerable amount of money, I fully accept that, and that has been spent over a number of years – first of all, with regard to the feasibility study and, as the Hon. Member will know and hopefully all Members will appreciate, we are at a stage at the moment of looking at the pre-qualification questionnaire with potential promoters, and that has yielded 12 substantial and credible interests and we are now moving towards the shortlisting of that.

Host cities, of which we actually had one contacting us only yesterday, asking for an update… is very keen for ongoing active interest with that… but we do not wish to choose those ahead of choosing a promoter.

It is well worth recognising that it will be Tynwald that will actually decide if we do go forward with the TT World Series. 

Going back to the original feasibility study, all the indicators there said there is significant opportunity here to expand this very strong and positive economic brand for the Isle of Man, and that is what we are trying to pursue.

The Speaker: Hon. Member, Mrs Beecroft.

Mrs Beecroft: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have two supplementaries, if I may.

The first one is referring to the original feasibility study which the Minister referred to. Could he clarify who that belongs to; does it belong to the Department or to Sports Consultancy; if it is available publicly and, if it is not, will it be?

The second one – is he saying that they have spent £250,000 with Sports Consultancy to date over many years? Could he clarify just how many years it is up to now?

The Speaker: Minister to reply.

The Minister: Gura mie eu, Loayreyder.

Yes, with regard to the feasibility study, I will investigate if we can publish that and I will certainly make it available to Members. It does make, in my mind, actually some quite compelling reasons why we are pursuing it, but I will see if I can actually share that.

Over the actual times, that has been over a number of years and it goes before my time even in DED when this was first started. So what I can say is it has been ongoing work and it has been engaging with a whole series of stakeholders. Destination host locations are only one of many stakeholders that are involved with us.

What we need to do is to ensure that if we are to progress with this – and I say it is ‘if’ because Tynwald will decide that – it is going to have the Isle of Man’s reputation protected, we do not dilute the existing event because we understand how valuable that is to our local economy right here and the reputation of the Isle of Man is secured in the jurisdictions that would take that on. That would be part of the governance that we would have in place should we go forward with this Series.

The Speaker: Mr Houghton.

Mr Houghton: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Notwithstanding the Minister’s continued assurances that he is giving this Hon. House that the World Series is a good idea etc… It may well be a good idea, but can the Minister actually put further information into this domain?

When he stated that one of the host cities only contacted his Department yesterday, (A Member: Further update.) why on earth was that? How come the Sports Consultancy has not kept them informed on an extremely regular basis ?

Also, Mr Speaker, if the Minister can provide this Hon. House with some tangible evidence toshow what has actually been done for all of this cost. There does not appear to be anything… the whole scheme does not appear to be any further than its embryonic stage, bearing in mind…

The final supplementary that I have for the Minister is: knowing previously that the Sports Consultancy had very little understanding of the fact that the FIM rules were being disregarded at that early stage, what has been done to make sure that that now has been put on a firm  footing?

The Speaker: Minister to reply.

The Minister: Gura mie eu.

I think I counted four supplementaries there.

The issue with regard to a jurisdiction contacting us most recently, just as yesterday, is because that jurisdiction wants an exclusive in that particular area of the world. We cannot give that assurance, clearly, because what we want to do is to give that opportunity to the promoter to actually have – hopefully, potentially – a bidding process so that we do get maximum economic benefit.

What I want to point out is that the interest is still very active at this particular time, and that is not just one location; there are numerous locations.

I would point out, if Members remember back, I did actually give a briefing to Members to explain the process of where we are, the timescales where we are, and we are looking at this coming forward to Tynwald by the end of this year. The briefing also highlighted the scales with regard to test events, the observation period and when we would move forward with this.

FIM is one of the issues that we are working with and we are in discussions with them as to whether the FIM will actually sanction this. If they do not, I can actually advise this House that we can still proceed with the series. However, we do want to have support and engagement with all appropriate stakeholders and FIM is one of those stakeholders.

The Speaker: Mr Quirk.

Mr Quirk: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I am sure the Minister will agree with me that the biggest stakeholder is actually Tynwald and the biggest risk will probably be Tynwald. Can I ask the Minister then when is he likely to bring any firm proposals to Tynwald Members so we can make that decision and have some clarity?

The Speaker: Minister.

The Minister: Gura mie eu.

Yes, by the end of this year – October, November – would be the estimated time. At this moment in time we are moving towards the shortlisting after the prequalification questionnaire, so what we need to do is to ensure that we do have potential credible partners, in terms of the promoter, before we come forward with any recommendation.

So there is ongoing work. I accept what the Hon. Members are talking about with regard to detail, but please rest assured there will be no decision made… and I do agree with Mr Quirk that Tynwald will be the ultimate stakeholder and will make the ultimate decision.

The Speaker: Final supplementary, Mrs Beecroft.

Mrs Beecroft: Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I thank the Minister for giving us assurance that he will investigate whether we can see and whether the public can see the original feasibility study, but he did not clarify actually who has ownership of that. Is it the Department or is it Sports Consultancy? Does he have to ask Sports Consultancy whether they will allow it; or is it within the gift of the Department?

The Speaker: Minister.

The Minister: Gura mie eu.

As far as I am aware, the Department does own that and therefore, if we can, we will actually publish that and certainly share it with Members first and foremost.