Councillors still to agree to hold start of Tour de France in Edinburgh

A decision on whether to agree to host the start of the Tour de France has had to be delayed by Edinburgh Council, with organisers yet to provide details of the deal.

Councillors had been expected to vote at a meeting on Thursday on whether to allow the signing of a host city agreement on its receipt by the council.

But in a last-minute move, the item was pulled from the Culture and Communities Committee meeting agenda.

A report by officers had recommended that the committee decide that any agreement would be signed on its receipt by the city, whether or not it had been seen by councillors.

But it is understood that a decision was made to hold off on asking councillors to consider the report, in order to allow for more time for the agreement to be sent.

The SNP group in the council had submitted an amendment to the original item, which if agreed would have seen the city not sign the agreement.

Instead, it would see the council go to the Scottish and UK governments to ask for funding for the event, which is set to cost the Capital up to £1.7m.

And both the Green and SNP groups expressed concern that the agreement was delayed, with the report saying it was meant to be signed by July 31.

The Green group’s amendment would, if agreed, have seen the committee delay making a decision until councillors could view and consider the final agreement.

It also would see an amendment added that ensured the advertising at the event was in line with council policies.

A discussion on signing the agreement will be made by the same committee, though a special session may need to be held depending on when the agreement is received.

Funds have already been approved for the event.

In June, councillors were told that council group leaders had approved of the city’s hosting of the Grand Depart for the men’s Tour de France race.

But group leaders said they did not approve it, and that in October – when the decision was said to have been made – they were only supportive of council officers exploring it.

At a council meeting in June, the city’s chief executive said not seeking approval from councillors was “inappropriate and should not have happened.”

In response to questioning by Conservative councillor Phil Doggart, Paul Lawrence said: “It’s the view of senior officers, certainly my view, that that was a mistake, and that that should have happened in that process.

“The report sets out how we are going to remind all colleagues, including myself, actually, that that was inappropriate and should not have happened.”

The 2027 edition of the Tour will be the first time that both the men’s and women’s races have started in the same country besides France.

It will also be the first time the race has visited Edinburgh, and the fifth time it has had any of its route inside the UK.

Some councillors have objected to the idea of the city hosting the event at all, citing the lack of information from councillors on its impact on and benefits to the Capital.

At a full council meeting in June, SNP councillor Kate Campbell said: “There is very little explanation, really, of why we’re making those allocations.

“We’ve had no reports to councillors, no notes to the committee, about the value we’re getting. We really don’t know what the benefit to the city is.”