Issue - meetings

Committee is asked to:

approve the amendment of the Deed of Variation, extending the cap on the cash support, as approved by Cabinet on 24 March 2021 and as set out in paragraph 2.1 of the report towards the operator of the Council’s two leisure centres to cover the period from April 2021 to end of June 2021, to now cover to the end of September 2021.

Reason for exemption

The report may be exempt from publication in accordance with Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and by the Local Government (Access to information) (Variation) Order 2006.

Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). The public interest in being transparent in transactions is outweighed by the financial affairs of the leisure operator being disclosed in discussions; this being financial information which is not publicly accessible. If the Council made this available to the public then it could impact the financial position of the operator as their competitors would have access to such information which in turn might affect the viability of the centres moving forward.

The Committee considered an exempt report and its appendices on financial support for the Borough’s Leisure Centre operator.

The Committee noted that on 24 March, Cabinet had approved a financial support package to enable the reopening of the Council’s Leisure Centres from 12 April 2021 and that at the end of a three-month period a review would be undertaken to determine what, if any, further funding would be provided and, if so, at what level.

The Committee acknowledged that at this stage additional financial support was not being sought, that the leisure centre had not drawn down on all of the funds available, and by extending the timescale for the drawing down from that support, up to the capped amount, the Council would have more time to understand the impact of any relaxation measures on social distancing rules announced by government earlier in the evening, which would come into effect from 19 July 2021.

In response to members’ questions the Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer confirmed that the level of support provided to date was in line with what other authorities had provided. He also advised members that the Council had received government grant funding that had been specifically provided to give financial support to the Leisure Centres. 

In response to further questions, the Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer explained that the Committee could resolve to agree to extend support further into the future if they were minded to do so, but there was the possibility that additional funds might be sought by September 2021.

The Committee queried the dividends that Sports and Leisure Management (SLM) had paid to their Directors, commenting that significant amounts had been paid prior to the pandemic. The Deputy Chief Executive and 151 Officer explained that this point had been raised by the Cabinet at their March 2021 meeting and a commitment had been sought from SLM to ensure this would not happen during the period whilst SLM are seeking COVID-19 funding support from the Council.

The Committee agreed that the Council’s Leisure Centres were important for the health and wellbeing of the Borough’s residents and that it was vital they were able to remain open whilst activity levels recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resolved to approve an amendment to the Deed of Variation, extending the timescale for the cap on the cash support, from June to now cover to the end of September 2021.