New leisure centre changes will mean more efficient services
Shropshire Council has been working closely with Teme Leisure over the last few months to ensure that the four leisure centres it operates continue to offer high quality services, despite reduced funding from the council as part of its wider savings agenda.
Teme Leisure operates leisure centres across the south of the county including Bishop’s Castle, Ludlow, Cleobury Mortimer and Church Stretton.
As part of the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan, Teme Leisure is contributing to the overall savings that have to be made over the four-year period. The overall grant that the council pays to Teme Leisure to run the centres is being phased down by around 33%, a figure that mirrors savings that have been made in other council-run leisure facilities.
These savings will come from all four facilities and will include, for example, changes to the management and opening hours during the school day at SpArC in Bishop’s Castle. The centre’s overall programme has been reviewed, and changes are being implemented which will ensure the continuation of daily community activities within a structured and better-balanced schedule. This will have minimal impact when compared to the overall programme on a weekly basis.
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for health and well-being, said:
“We are constantly looking to deliver services as efficiently and effectively as possible to make the best use of the resources available, especially in the current economic climate. Because of this we have asked Teme Leisure to find savings over the next three years.
“By working with Teme Leisure we hope that the changes needed will be managed carefully, whilst ensuring the local community and schools continue to have access to excellent facilities across the south of the county.”
Peter Williams, Chief Executive of Teme Leisure, said:
“We understand and are sympathetic towards the difficulties faced by Shropshire Council with the reduction in funding from central government. We appreciate the need to work in partnership with the council to obtain savings. However, the level of reduction in funding, together with the very challenging economic climate, has led to a rationalisation of programmes and opening hours within our centres.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience that this may cause to a number of our customers. Teme Leisure is a social enterprise, working for the benefit of the community, and we will continue to deliver services in partnership with the council that offer value for money across all of our sites.”
Local Shropshire Councillors Charlotte Barnes, Heather Kidd and Nigel Hartin added:
“We would urge more people to use the SpArc to make it more feasible for staying open during school hours. It has been realised that cuts have to be made, but we have tried to make sure that popular sessions are still available, and primary schools will still have the opportunity to have school swimming lessons.”
The changes are expected to be in place within the next couple of months.
