County needs help saving leisure centres

Councils calling for Government funding

Councils across Devon are calling on the Government to provide funding to safeguard the future of leisure centres.

They are asking ministers to approve a funding submission to help local authorities meet the costs of reopening and operating leisure centres across the country caused by the lockdown and ongoing impact of COVID-19.

While some leisure centres have at least partially reopened, many remain closed, and those that have opened are facing substantial increased costs due to additional Covid-secure measures they have had to put in place

With limits on customer numbers and reduced opening hours, some leisure providers are reporting up to 50 per cent drops in income which are predicted to continue into the next two years.

Under government funding announced last month, only around a quarter of councils will be able to recover a proportion of the income that has been lost as a result of the pandemic, and while many councils have been or are being asked to provide financial support to keep these companies and organisations financially viable and allow them to open up, in many cases, they simply do not have the funds.

Councils which are members of the South West Leisure Group are now warning that the government needs to act now before the furloughing scheme ends this autumn and it is too late for the sector.

John Hart, Chairman of South West Councils, said: “The position is pretty simple really. Councils are being asked to financially support companies purely to enable public facilities to re-open. Councils cannot afford to do this and so there is now a real risk that facilities in some areas will not be opening.

“That will undermine national initiatives to reduce obesity and make the nation healthier and more resilient. It is vital that the government holds firm to its promise to do whatever is necessary to support councils’ efforts.”

Cllr David Worden, Leader of North Devon Council, added: “The leisure facilities provided by local authorities are vital to our communities as councils provide the facilities that the private sector is not generally interested in such as swimming pools etc.

“Councils that outsourced management of these facilities are now being penalised by the government because they cannot recover the vast sums of money now being required to effectively prop up their external providers and enable them to open facilities.”