Purpose

This report sets out the fees and charges for 2025/26 for the Council's Sport and Leisure facilities. They continue to be considered against a number of key principles that form part of the long-term financial forecast approach which are summarised in the attached report.
The Council offers its leisure facilities not as a commercial venture but to support residents to boost their physical activity, aiming to improve health and deliver broader social benefits.
It is proposed to increase fees between the range of 2% - 4% as set out in the full breakdown attached to this decision. Despite these increases referred to in the report, there will still be a general budget subsidy in place, meaning that the proposed fees are not expected to generate more revenue than the cost of providing the service, as outlined below.
The Council manages its Sports Facilities according to the adopted Sport and Activity Strategy, which aims to promote residents' health and wellbeing, alongside offering broader benefits to the community.

Decision

That the Schedule of Fees and Charges 2025/26 for Economy, Culture and Leisure / Sport and Leisure set out in Appendix A be agreed.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - To adopt the schedule set of fees and charges for 2025/56 (this option)
Option 2 - Not to increase fees and charges. It is not considered appropriate to freeze charges for the 2025/26 financial year, due to rising costs which could increase the Council's agreed subsidy for its Sports Facilities. Although the Council is focussed on resisting price increases where possible, small inflationary increases are necessary to keep up with running costs, which in turn supports the sustainability of the Council’s Sport and Leisure provision for local people and allow the Council to continue delivering on its health and wellbeing agenda