16 Oct 2012
Cheshire East Council considers leisure trust
BY Kath Hudson
Cheshire East Council is considering converting its leisure services into a trust.
At a meeting on 15 October, the cabinet was asked to approve the procurement of leisure and financial consultants to review the range of potential delivery models available and recommend a preferred option.
The review will look at best value, reducing net operating costs and consider the advantages and disadvantages of a new model. The cabinet will review the report in December.
Trust status, with its charitable structure and greater freedom around income generation is likely to be a preferred option.
The council runs 15 facilities including eight joint-use centres shared with schools. Nine centres have pools and two have athletics stadiums.
Annual attendance in 2011/12 was over 2.7million. Taxpayers are currently subsidising leisure services by £2m a year. Gross spend in 2011/12 was £7.89m, compared with an income of £5.85m.
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