Chance to scrutinise Sheffield Council's £16.6 million leisure decision

The economic and environmental wellbeing scrutiny and policy development committee will discuss the topic in a virtual meeting on Tuesday, September 8 from 4.30pm and the public can submit questions.

Last month the council announced it put aside up to £16.6 million to help reopen Sheffield City Trust (SCT) and Places for People leisure facilities across the city.

The figure is £11.2 million more than budgeted for and is part of the council's £56m of increased costs so far as a result of Covid-19.

Of the leisure total, £15 million will go to SCT and £1.6 million to Places for People and will come from reserves.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of the Liberal Democrats, previously criticised the council for making the funding decision without the chance for scrutiny.

At the time, he said: “It’s very difficult to judge whether this is the best use of taxpayers’ money when you are presented with information at no notice other than being emailed after the fact and it’s not the way things should be done in Sheffield.

“It’s easy to dip into reserves but what are we going to do next year when there are little reserves left?”

He added: “There has been a lot of secrecy about it and Coun [Julie] Dore’s emergency decision meant there wasn’t any chance for any of us to ask questions. The fact their own chair of the scrutiny committee had to call this in shows the lack of communication wasn’t just with the people of Sheffield but with their own fellow councillors.”

Andrew Snelling, chief executive of SCT, said the money enabled them to reopen most of their facilities across the city, with the exception of Ponds Forge International Sports Centre.

The council said it was not in a position to provide the extra money needed to reopen Ponds Forge in its current format, but aquatic clubs based there have since launched a campaign to reopen it for athletes which the council is considering.

To read the report for the meeting and register to ask questions, visit http://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=136&MId=7692

Thank you to all who support local journalism with a digital or print subscription to The Star. The events of 2020 mean trusted, local journalism is more reliant than ever on your support. We couldn't do it without you. Subscribe here www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions so we can keep campaigning on your behalf. Stay safe.