Falkirk councillors cover £1.5m deficit in leisure trust budget

Falkirk Council has agreed to fund the deficit Falkirk Community Trust is facing due to the impact of the Coronvirus pandemic.

The Trust - set up as a charity to manage sport and leisure services on behalf of the council - is currently £1.5m over-budget.

Members heard the deficit was a big improvement since June when it was staring at a £3.2 million deficit.

Bryan Smail, finance director, said the Trust had been on track to break even before Covid hit, forcing the closure of all its facilities, and stopping all its income.

The UK Government's furlough scheme - which the Trust can access while the council can't - had made a massive difference.

But while councillors gave the Trust the financial backing it needs, they also agreed to look closely at whether Falkirk Community Trust should be brought back under their control.

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Cecil Meiklejohn, Council Leader, called for a report looking at the benefits and risks of bringing the Trust back in-house.

The chief executive is to look at whether it might help the council take decisions in a more streamlined way.

Councillor Niall Coleman said even those who supported the Trust retaining its current status should support the review.

He said: "It would be fair to say that no councillor is 100 per cent happy with Falkirk Community Trust in its current form."

He added that those concerns were having a negative impact on the Trust itself - and its board members were also worried about a lack of integration.

"We as councillors must show leadership in this area and look at changing how leisure and culture is delivered," he said.

Councillor Fiona Collie also supported a review.

She said: "It's important to recognise the integral position of the Trust in a numbers .

"Libraries, for example, are critical to reducing isolation as well as working with schools.

"Our leisure services work with people recovering from surgery and from illness through the Active Forth programme.

"There are really important things that are not income generating but we really need to have that conversation."

But Labour councillor Joan Coombes made clear that she was not in favour of bringing the Trust's services in-house, saying it was “mad, bad and irresponsible.”

> Kirsty Paterson is the Local Democracy Reporter for Falkirk

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