Industry leaders are calling for immediate support to avoid significant closures as 40 per cent of council areas risk losing their leisure centres and pools within five months due to the sector’s growing energy crisis.
New figures from ukactive show that without government intervention, large numbers of public sector leisure facilities are unlikely to make it through to next spring, with service restrictions and facility closures already growing across the UK.
A new consultation with national public leisure operators asked ukactive members to risk assess the current threat to their facilities.
The findings show:
Industry leaders are calling for immediate support to avoid significant closures – support that cannot wait until the outcome of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme review from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which will not be implemented until April 2023.
They are calling on the government to intervene straight away and work with local authorities and facility operators to find a short-term solution that supports discussions on the long-term future of the services provided to communities by public leisure facilities.
This would complement the wider support needed from the BEIS review for the whole sector (both public and private operators), including an extended energy price guarantee, VAT relief, business rates holiday, and local government grants.
Gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres are disproportionately affected by rising energy costs, given their high energy intensiveness, and therefore remain highly vulnerable despite the broad support provided for all businesses.
ukactive's evidence shows that operators face bills up to 200 per cent higher this year compared to 2019 (the last normal operating year), with costs set to grow by up to 240 per cent next year.
“We are now seeing daily announcements of public sector leisure facilities either restricting services, at threat of closure, or closing permanently due to the energy crisis,” said Huw Edwards, CEO of ukactive.
“This is the sad reality of the accurate projections ukactive made to the government earlier this year, and a tragedy for local communities which are losing trusted, essential services that support the physical and mental wellbeing of the communities they serve.
“The Energy Price Guarantee – in place until March 2023 – has avoided catastrophic energy prices across all sectors for the moment, but it was never a silver bullet, and this is now being seen in parts of our sector, especially in facilities that run swimming pools.”
