Decision - Freedom Leisure Contract - Update on current position in relation to energy costs and mitigation measures..

Brighton and Hove Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Economic Development Committee Decided 9 Nov 2023 for determination GET /api/coverage

Decision maker

Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Economic Development Committee

Report author

Mark Fisher

Published

9 Nov 2023

Reference

7063

As published

the council's own words, unedited

This is a review and update of the situation that was previously discussed at service committee in November 2022 in respect of the energy crisis and impact on the financial sustainability of the FL contract

RESOLVED: That Committee: 1. Noted the lifting of mitigation measures that have been or are being lifted in agreement with Freedom Leisure by the end of the financial year 2023/24. 2. Noted the grant applications for additional revenue and capital financial support through the government's Swimming Pool Support Fund (SPSF) managed by Sport England. 3. Noted the contents of this report in relation to the work delivered by both Freedom Leisure and council Sports Facilities teams over the last year in respect of the energy mitigation measures undertaken to ensure the sports facilities continued to remain open for residents.

Parsed from the document

gpt-5.6-luna-2026-07-09 · 4942/1948 tokens · 15441ms · parsed 9 Sep 2026 12:08

Everything below was read out of a PDF by a model It is useful and it is not authoritative. The document it came from is linked in the rail, and where the two disagree the document is right.

The report updated the committee on measures taken to help keep Brighton & Hove’s leisure facilities open during the energy cost crisis. It reported that the financial position had improved, some measures were being reinstated, and the remaining mitigation measures were expected to end by the close of 2023/24.

Outcome

approved

Recommendation

The committee was recommended to note the lifting of mitigation measures agreed with Freedom Leisure by the end of 2023/24, note the applications for additional revenue and capital support through the Swimming Pool Support Fund, and note the work undertaken by Freedom Leisure and the council’s Sports Facilities teams.

Financial impact

A £5,000 Sport England grant was awarded to Brighton & Hove City Council for consultancy support. The council had waived Freedom Leisure’s management fee for 2022/23 and 2023/24 and provided a solar electricity payment holiday, with those incomes expected to be reinstated by the end of 2023/24; no value was stated.

Ward affected

city-wide

Decision maker

Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism & Economic Development Committee

Date in document

9 Nov 2023

Stakeholders named

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Brighton & Hove City CouncilFreedom LeisureWealden Leisure LtdSport Englandresidents using the city’s sports and leisure facilitiestargeted community groupsNHSAmazeParent Carers (PACC)

Next steps

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Continue lifting the agreed mitigation measures with Freedom Leisure by the end of the 2023/24 financial year.
Reinstate the full 2023/24 contract management fee and end the solar electricity payment holiday by the end of 2023/24.
Await the outcome of the Swimming Pool Support Fund applications, including the Phase 2 capital/decarbonisation bid expected by the end of January 2024.
Return to the contractual position in 2024/25, including shared net income from planned capital developments.

Precedents

not built

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