Council chiefs in Swansea have agreed a £1m lifeline this year to subsidise leisure centres and the city's Olympic-sized swimming pool. Up to £800,000 will be provided to not-for-profit Freedom Leisure, which runs the LC and other leisure centres on behalf of the council, while up to £200,000 will be allocated to Wales National Pool Swansea, which operates the 50m indoor pool in Sketty.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, council leader Rob Stewart said Freedom Leisure had largely been dealing with the Covid pandemic and energy price hikes since taking over the contract in 2018. "That has meant they have had a very difficult and challenging operating position," he said.
It was a situation, he said, that the council was "monitoring very, very closely". A report before cabinet said Freedom Leisure had performed well despite the challenges and that the aim over the next 12 months was to return to pre-Covid trading, but that without appropriate support the services it delivered were "at significant risk".
The report said: "Across the portfolio, swimming and Learn to Swim programmes are performing exceptionally well, gym membership levels are only at around 87% of pre Covid-19 levels, main hall hire is only at 72% and studio hire is at 49%. Venues such as the LC are seeing a greater impact due to the city centre work disruption and parking displacement, and the impact of the continued work from home habits changing demand."
The council pays Freedom Leisure a sliding management fee every year - this year it's £871,466, down £92,022 from last year. The authority also provided £1.29 million additional support last year, most of which has been reclaimed from the Welsh Government. That Welsh Government support scheme, said the report, was now over.
A separate report said the same challenges experienced by Freedom Leisure applied to Wales National Pool Swansea but that it had, like Freedom Leisure, performed well and kept costs down.
The council provides a £302,800 annual subsidy to Wales National Pool Swansea - as does Swansea University - and contributed an extra £106,242 in 2021-22 to make up for lost Covid-related revenue. The £200,000 additional funding for 2022-23, said the report, is proposed as a "maximum level of underwriting".
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