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Senior figures from local authorities, leisure operators and Sport England are coming together to show that community sport programmes do not need to suffer as a result of pressure on council budgets.

A series of seminars run by Sport England are showing how strategic solutions to leisure facility provision can save up to 30% from revenue and capital costs without compromising services.

Sport ’s Property Director, Charles Johnston, said: “We believe sport is critical to building the happy and healthy communities that local councils want to see. So a response to budget pressures is finding solutions that provide attractive alternatives and ensure greater efficiency without the need to cut local sports provision. 

“By highlighting some of the great examples of efficient and innovative work by local authority leisure services and leisure operators, we hope to help councils make the strategic decisions that will deliver more sport for less.”

Speakers will include local authority chief executives and directors as well as senior figures from major leisure operators.

Among the case studies will be Elmbridge Borough Council, which is saving £6 million from its revenue budget over 15 years thanks to its decision to replace two ageing leisure facilities with a new, state-of-the-art wet and dry leisure centre. This has led to a huge increase in the number of local people playing sport at the facility.

Steve Philpott, the CEO of DC Leisure which managed the building of the Xcel Centre in Elmbridge, said: “The five years since the completion of the centre has given us hard evidence to show that replacing a number of small, ageing facilities with fewer larger ones providing an up-to-date active leisure experience can actually save money in the long term as well as getting the whole community more active.”

The seminars will also see the launch of ‘Affordable 25m Community Pools’, a new Sport England/ASA guide to low-cost capital and operational solutions for swimming. The benefits of following this approach include:

. Construction costs of between £2.1 million and £4 million

. An operating budget that can create a surplus of around £24,000 per year

. A new swimming pool can be opened within 24 months of the decision to proceed.

This low-cost approach to building swimming pools will make a fundamental difference to capital investment decisions when considered as part of a rationalisation programme.

Notes to Editors

Sport England is focused on the delivery of a mass participation legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We invest National Lottery and Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.

If you work at a senior level within the sector and are interested in attending a seminar, please contact events@sportengland.org

Seminar details:

1st November - Elmbridge Xcel Leisure Complex – Elmbridge, Surrey

Charles Johnston - Director of Property - Sport England

Steve Philpott - Chief Executive, DC Leisure

Robert Moran Chief Executive Elmbridge Borough Council,

Craig McAteer – Managing Director  - Link4Life (Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust)

Andrew Holt – Chief Executive Parkwood Leisure  

7th November – Heywood Sports Village - Rochdale

Charles Johnston - Director of Property - Sport England

Craig McAteer – Managing Director  - Link4Life (Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust)

Mark Widdup – Executive Director – Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council

Steve Philpott - Chief Executive, DC Leisure,

Andrew Holt – Chief Executive Parkwood Leisure  

6th December – Spiceball Leisure Centre – Banbury, Oxfordshire

Charles Johnston - Director of Property - Sport England

Andrew Holt – Chief Executive Parkwood Leisure  

Sue Smith, Chief Executive Cherwell District Council

Craig McAteer – Managing Director  - Link4Life (Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust)

Steve Philpott - Chief Executive, DC Leisure.