Firm with leisure centre contract calls for more funds
THE firm overseeing Ashbourne’s leisure centre is asking for more money to stem the impact of lockdown and social distancing on its finances.
Three months ago Derbyshire
Dales district councillors had a heated discussion about giving extra funding to Freedom Leisure, the non-profit group it pays to run its leisure centres.
Now Freedom Leisure has asked the council for more funding to plug its finances.
During lockdown the firm received an extra £345,558. In October it was pledged a maximum of another £300,000 to last six months but now a meeting this week is set to see the council hand over a further £143,815.
This will bring the extra taxpayer funding being given to nearly £800,000.
This extra funding is to provide a further two months of financial support for February and March and reversing an incorrect assumption made in the summer that the twometre social distancing rule was to be relaxed in leisure centres - which was not the case.
The group has also asked for a further £290,000 for the next financial year, starting in April, which will be debated in the future.
This would see extra funding surpass £1 million.
All four leisure centres owned by the council were outsourced to Freedom Leisure in 2018 at a cost of £3.2 million over 10 years with the firm to invest £1 million in improvements and to retain all staff.
Council officers wrote in a report to be debated on Thursday, November 26, that the estimated extra funding the firm said it would need in
August was short of the mark, its overall additional costs coming in at £378,454 - far above what it had thought.
Officers wrote: “These predictions were originally based on the twometre social distancing rule being reduced in leisure facilities enabling more customers into the centres. “However the two-metre rule is still in place and will continue to be so for the foreseeable.
“The revised estimates reflect the current actual performance, sector intelligence and the likely effects of the continuing social distancing and reduced customer confidence.
“It is from October onwards when the gap between the income predicted and the actual income widens and this is having a financial impact on Freedom Leisure.
“As this is a continually changing situation it is still very unclear exactly what the next year for the leisure sector will look like and therefore ask you to note that further financial support may be required for Freedom Leisure.”
The firm said it employs more than 100 staff at the Dales leisure centres it runs for the council.
A spokesperson for Freedom Leisure said: “The Covid pandemic has created huge financial pressures for public leisure services.
“We have worked very closely with all our partners including Derbyshire Dales to ensure the sustainability and viability of their services.
“Public leisure services are essential as we provide access across all sections of the community to facilities and programmes which have been proven to have very positive impacts on both physical and mental well-being.
“We are clearly in for a challenging winter ahead but we wish to reassure both current and future customers that our facilities are Covid-secure.”
District council officers also wrote: “On 22 October 2020 the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - Robert Jenrick - confirmed over £900 million of funding will be provided to councils for their ongoing work to support communities during the pandemic.
“As part of this £900 million there is a £100 million scheme to support local authority leisure centres. At the time of writing this report it is still unclear exactly how this fund will work and when the District Council would be able to apply for the funding.”
At August’s council meeting over extra funding for leisure centres,
Cllr Peter Slack said the authority was not a “bottomless pit” but that it must front up extra funding to allow the centres to reopen.
Cllr Mike Ratcliffe said: “No one could have predicted this two years ago when we agreed this contract, unless you were a soothsayer with a crystal ball. We are now sitting here with the spectre that if we don’t do something we could lose our leisure centres.”