West Dunbartonshire Council’s Labour administration has voted against a motion that would have seen jobs at WD Leisure secured for at least the next three years.
SNP member for Kilpatrick Gordon Scanlan had submitted a motion to last week’s full meeting of the local authority calling proposed staff losses “unacceptable” and warning the idea has “caused distress, and negatively impacted trust and goodwill in senior management.”
It recommended the Trust implement a moratorium on any organisational restructure which would result in job losses for the next three years.
Earlier this year we told how a leisure trust whistleblower had warned a planned reduction in staff would have “a significant impact” on services.
Planned cuts would see a 5.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff cut, however, WDC say this is offset by current vacancies – reducing the impact to 2.6FTE.
A ‘sport and activity team’ would be formed to run local projects, including the Loch Lomond 10k and sport holiday camps.
However, Councillor Scanlan’s motion was defeated by 11 votes to nine in favour of a Labour amendment that noted the motion, but said that no action would be taken while a consultation on the proposed cuts was ongoing.
That was despite Labour saying during hustings that they would look to reverse planned cuts to the trust.
Former council leader Jonathan McColl said: “I thought that this would receive cross-party support. It seems crazy to me that whilst we increase the Leisure Trust’s management fee we are proposing cuts to services. It makes no sense.
“We’ve also received comment from sportscotland saying that the proposals put forward aren’t workable because of the way services are funded.
“The whole thing is a shambles. These proposals need to be stopped. The staff need to be given some comfort about their jobs and the community needs to be given comfort about the services being provided.
“It was something we all agreed on during the public hustings in the lead up to the election. It seems strange that we don’t have unanimity of support now.”
And his concerns were echoed by fellow SNP member Karen Conaghan, who added: “Covid has had an impact on wellbeing in our community and it’s absolutely crazy to do something that could harm that.
“I thought we would have cross-party support for something that shows our communities that their health and wellbeing is valued.”
However Labour’s David McBride, who sits on the Leisure Trust board, said he would be supporting his party’s amendment – as he outlined the financial challenges facing the trust. The Dumbarton member said: “Over the last 12 months £742,000 has been utilised from the Leisure Trust’s reserves because of lost income.
“The Leisure Trust currently has 80 percent of its income from before the pandemic. I’m not expressing an opinion, but I wanted to clarify the financial situation the trust is currently under.”
Labour’s amendment was passed by 11 votes to nine.
