Councillors to hand over £1,000s extra for leisure ...grudgingly
COUNCILLORS have agreed, grudgingly, to hand thousands of pounds of extra funding to a private firm overseeing its leisure centres.
Members of Derbyshire Dales District Council say they are eager to “draw a line in the sand” around how much more taxpayer money they are willing to give to Freedom Leisure, which runs leisure centres in Ashbourne, Bakewell, Matlock and Wirksworth.
Councillors also discussed, in a virtual meeting on the issue, that they may want to see the multi-million-pound contract looked at again, with some members asking whether it was time to take leisure services back from the nonprofit organisations. They said stopping further funding was “not something we can keep putting off” and suggested the authority was “being held to ransom”.
This is two years after councillors voted unanimously to outsource them for £3.2 million over 10 years.
After a debate, councillors agreed to give a further £66,613 to Freedom Leisure to support it through February and March next year. This is half the original third sum the firm had requested after taking into account the extension of the furlough scheme.
This extra funding is on top of the extra £345,558 the council gave the non-profit organisation during the first lockdown and £300,000 it agreed to give it to last from August to January. Council officers say Freedom has also asked for £290,000 to support it through the next year, which will be debated at a later date.
Cllr Garry Purdy, leader of the council, said: “We are in a difficult period of time, and that is an understatement, especially as we are now moving into Tier 3. A lifeblood of health and mental welfare is of course our leisure services and without them, many, many of our constituents out there are going to miss this, as indeed will our visitors.
“So it does need supporting but I do hasten to say that we are not a bottomless pit and of course there may well come a time when we do have to say no, and that will be because of Covid.
“There is more than scrutiny on this, there is an absolute need to serve our communities as best we can to try and keep the leisure services going and not hand the keys back. That is the awful dilemma we face if we don’t support this.”
Cllr Peter Slack said: “I do feel that unless the Government comes forward with money, we would be better to keep them closed until the end of the financial year, and with vaccinations coming along we might be better doing that.”
Cllr Mike Ratcliffe said: “Are we soon going to be in a position, whether we like it or not, where we will need to review the financial implications of returning leisure services back into council ownership.”
Cllr Neil Buttle said: “I am going to vote against this next time they come, so they know not to come again. They’ve had enough, we’ll give them this and then we should stop.”
Cllr Sue Hobson, deputy leader of the council, said: “With the effects of this pandemic on the finances of the council and also Freedom Leisure, we must consider this carefully, but I would urge all members to support this motion to keep our facilities open. So much goes into these facilities and they are vital for the health and wellbeing of our residents.”
Cllr Richard Bright said: “There are a number of privately owned gyms that provide leisure facilities all over the Derbyshire Dales and they do not have the kind of support that we are going to give to Freedom Leisure at this moment in time, which is coming from Derbyshire Dales taxpayers. It suggests that there isn’t an equal playing field for privatelyowned gyms and leisure providers.”
Cllr Mark Wakeman said: “I am not happy with all this money that is being asked for but I will toe the party line (Conservative) and vote the way the party wants.”
Cllr Michele Morley said: “It is hard for everybody and it is damned if we do, damned if we don’t. The mental health of our residents should be considered.
“I certainly don’t think there should be any closing down of business until the end of the financial year. That would be drastic.”
Ashley Watts, the council’s director of communities and environment services, said: “I know that some members have raised frustrations at the request for additional funding but I hope you can appreciate that this is a difficult time for our leisure provider, and again this week we have seen a change in possible direction which makes it very difficult for Freedom Leisure to make accurate predictions as the situation changes.
“There is a point where we have to draw a line in the sand. I don’t believe we are at that point at this moment in time. I think we need to support our partners in the next few months.
“I think what we have to be mindful of is that savings we have made by outsourcing the service, even with these additional costs.”