Leisure centres could close and services could be axed without energy bill support, chief warns
Leisure centres could close or have services axed if the Government doesn't step in to support the sector through its extension of energy bill support, an industry chief has warned.
Ivan Horsfall Turner, CEO of Freedom Leisure which runs some centres in Stafford, warned there could be a real impact on the sector if nothing is done to help them out.
It comes after the Government set out plans to help businesses from April 1 and listed industry sectors set to receive extra financial support due to their intensive energy use.
But the long list of sectors – which includes alcohol-making and coal mining among others – doesn't include leisure centres, which has been branded disappointing and frustrating.
Overall, the new scheme which will come into force on April 1 will be less generous, costing £5.5 billion for a year – compared to £18bn over six months currently.
Mr Horsfall Turner said: “I am extremely disappointed and frustrated as to why public sector leisure has been omitted from the list. Public sector leisure is one of the most exposed sectors because we are a very intensive user of utilities with energy costs a very large proportion of our overall costs, particularly in centres with swimming pools.
"We have recently seen our annual energy bill move from £8m to £20m even with the temporary cap.
“Following the announcement of a 'discount scheme', those figures are clearly going to increase even further and as a not-for-profit organisation that reinvests its surpluses back into the local community facilities we run, we simply do not have the reserves to cope with these unprecedented costs.
“I have personally written to all local MPs within the constituencies we operate and I call upon the Chancellor and the Government to urgently provide clarity about the criteria used to decide which industries are classed as being 'energy-intensive', it seems incredibly hard to understand how a public library or a museum is more energy-intensive than a public swimming pool.
“If this situation remains as is, there is a real risk of more not-for-profit trusts, such as ourselves, taking difficult decisions to close more facilities and services which will have a long-term, detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of the nation as well as increasing the pressure on our already overstretched NHS.”
Freedom Leisure is one of the leading charitable and not-for-profit leisure trusts in the UK that manages over 100 leisure and cultural venues, including over 60 swimming pools on behalf of councils.
It runs Stafford Leisure Centre in Lammascote Road, Rowley Park Sports Stadium in Averill Road in Stafford, Burntwood Leisure Centre on High Street in the town, and Stone Leisure Centre on Stafford Road in Stone.
