A one-off funding request from LeisureSK has been included in South Kesteven District Council’s draft budget proposals for 2025/26.
The limited company, which operates leisure centres in Stamford, Grantham, and Bourne, has requested temporary cashflow support of £150,000.
The leisure centres in South Kesteven
The funding would be allocated to creating a new business operating structure for leisure services, set to take effect on Tuesday, April 1.
The funding request is listed among proposed one-off budget increases in the council’s draft financial plan for the next year, presented in a report to a joint overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday morning (January 14).
The report states: “On 10 September 2024, cabinet approved a new business operating structure for leisure services that incorporates an agency model. The model is to be implemented with an operational start date of 1 April 2025. To support this new operating model, the company presented its business plan and funding proposals to the culture and leisure overview and scrutiny committee on 28 November 2024.
“A funding proposal of £150,000 has been requested to provide temporary cashflow support for a short-term period. Once the new operating model is embedded and cashflow stabilised, the £150,000 will be recovered by the council during 2025/26.”
The draft budget, which also includes a proposed council tax increase of either £5 or 3%, will next be discussed by cabinet on Thursday (January 16) following feedback from Tuesday’s meeting.
A public consultation on the council tax options will begin afterwards, with responses to be considered by the authority’s cabinet at its meeting on February 11.