Agenda item

Consider joint report by Director Resilient Communities and Acting Chief Financial Officer.  (Copy to follow.)

         There had been circulated copies of a report by the Acting Chief Executive setting out a proposal to help mitigate the challenges facing the three sport, leisure and culture Trusts funded by the Council, all of whom operated swimming pools.  The Trusts had all seen significant increases in their cost base due to rising energy costs and reduced income.  The paper sought approval from Members to provide financial assistance to Berwickshire Recreation and Education Sports Trust (BREST) of £127,000 from the Council’s recovery fund for the 2022/23 financial year to assist with the costs of a programme of energy efficiency works that would significantly reduce running costs at the Duns facility by an estimated £62,000 per annum and reduce their carbon footprint by 130 tonnes of C02 per annum.  Discussions were ongoing with Live Borders, and would now also be taken forward with the Jedburgh Sport and Leisure Trust, to ascertain how the Council could assist them with similar programmes of works and the costs of their continuing operations. With increasing energy costs in recent years, the three Leisure Trusts operating in the Borders had seen increasing costs of running their facilities.  This increase in costs had been especially felt in those leisure centres operating swimming pools.  Pools had faced particular challenges in continuing to operate while keeping their costs of admission affordable to users.  Live Borders was the largest of the three charitable trusts commissioned by SBC for the delivery of sport, leisure and cultural services.  Live Borders currently operated 6 swimming pools on behalf of the Council in Eyemouth, Galashiels, Hawick, Kelso, Peebles and Selkirk, with one pool, Peebles, currently closed following a malicious fire earlier this year.  The other two Borders based Trusts operating swimming pools in the Borders were Jedburgh Leisure Facilities Trust, which operated Laidlaw Memorial Pool, and Berwickshire Recreation Educational Sports Trust, which operated Duns Swimming Pool.  Sport, physical activity and cultural activities played a vital role in delivering the Council Plan and Community Plan priorities and outcomes, in particular the priority of ‘Good Health & Wellbeing’, where the people of the Scottish Borders would be “enabled and supported to take control of their health and wellbeing, and enjoy a high quality of life” so that the Borders would have “more people in good health, leading an active lifestyle at every age and stage of life.”  Swimming pool buildings consumed significantly more energy per sq. m. than most other building types; careful design and the operation of pools to conserve energy was therefore of fundamental importance in ensuring their continued viability.  Without sufficient funding to assist Trusts to reduce their energy usage and their carbon footprint, the financial viability of swimming pools in the Borders was at risk.  This in turn risked the delivery of the corporate priorities associated with Health and Wellbeing, and the important community benefits they delivered.   Members supported the proposals and commended the work the Berwickshire Trust had carried out to help minimise their cost increases. 

         DECISION

         AGREED:-

          (a)     to provide one-off financial support to Berwickshire Education and Recreation Sports Trust in the current year of £127,000 from the recovery fund to part fund a programme of energy improvement works identified by the Trust;

          (b)     to note the extraordinary financial challenges facing the leisure sector, primarily as a result of increasing energy costs and reduced income levels;

          (c)     to instruct officers to continue to engage with Live Borders and the Jedburgh Leisure Facilities Trust to identify a package of similar support measures to help manage energy costs, decarbonise buildings and to assist with reduced income;

          (d)     that these Trusts played a vital role in the successful delivery of Council Plan priorities and that, as such, work was also to be undertaken as part of the budget process 2023/24 to identify ways to assist the three Leisure Trusts with their ongoing financial viability.  This may include payments for new services, for example social prescribing to help deliver Health and Wellbeing outcomes; and

          (e)     that as part of the budget process, and in recognition of any increased funding contribution, that the Trusts would be required to work with the Council to improve Governance oversight and demonstrate they were delivering the outcomes expected by Members, could evidence good value for money, and an ability to follow the public pound.

         MEMBERS

         Councillors Brown, Richards and Weatherston re-joined the meeting.