£2.36 million hole found in Newham Council’s fiscal justification forclosure of the only leisure centre in E15 (the Olympic zone)
Newham Council’s fiscal justification to close Atherton Leisure Centre (the only Leisure Centre in E15 – the Olympic zone) has failed to factor in a major liability of up to £2.36 million.
In 1999, Sport England awarded Newham Council a grant of £2,360,153 for the refurbishment of Atherton Leisure Centre. The grant was for the refurbishment of it’s Swimming Pool and development of it’s Indoor Bowls facility.
A Freedom of Information request submitted to Sport England clearly shows that under the terms of the grant, Newham Council will be liable to repay up to the full amount to Sport England if it closes Atherton Leisure Centre within 21 years of the award (i.e. before 2020).
If Newham Council were required to repay the full £2.3 million, this would be £100,000 more than it would cost to run Atherton Leisure Centre for the next ten years (according to the Council’s own estimates).
Newham Council has failed to include this major liability in any of its fiscal justification documents relating to the closure of Atherton Leisure Centre.
Background
Despite the Mayor of Newham’s promise that “if there were any such plans, they would be the subject of a full community consultation”, he has now made the decision to close Atherton Leisure Centre without any community consultation, therefore breaking his promise to the people of Newham.
The Mayor is now promising that a new state of the art facility will replace the existing leisure centre. However, no planning, no architectural plans and no funds will be in place before the closure. Minutes from Newham Council’s Cabinet meeting of 22 September 2011 also state that, “There is significant risk that the capital financing will not be secure for a replacement facility.”
The government committed to an increased participation in sport as a result of the Olympics being in East London. By closing Atherton Leisure Centre, Newham Council are knowingly decreasing participation in sport in the Olympic borough, in an Olympic year (according to the Council’s own statistics).
The amount needed to run Atherton Leisure Centre over the next decade (£2.2 million) represents just 0.0002% of public expenditure on the London Olympics.
Atherton Leisure Centre receives 240,000 visits each year and the people who use it are amongst the poorest in the country.
The borough of Newham has the highest proportion of households earning below £15,000 in the capital (over 25%, GLA Economics Focus on London report), it has the highest levels of mortgage repossession in London (Ministry of Justice 2009-10), more than 43% of children in the borough live in poverty (HM Revenue and Customs, 2008) and it also has one of the highest levels of premature mortality in London (ONS Mortaility statistics 2007-09).
Ends
i. Spokespeople for the SaveAtherton campaign and users of Atherton Leisure Centre are available to interview.
ii. For further information see www.NOTSPONSORED.co.uk
iii. The relevant clauses in Sport England’s 1999 grant agreement to Newham Council state: -
1.1 The Facility or any part of it will not be sold, transferred, leased or otherwise disposed of, or cease to be used for the sports purposes approved by the English Sports Council, without the prior written approval of the English Sports Council which will, amongst other things, be conditional upon the provisions of the following paragraph being satisfied.
1.2 In such circumstances of sale, transfer, lease, or other disposal or change of use within a period of 21 years from the date of provision of the Facility:
1.2.1 If the Facility or part of the Facility is sold or transferred, the Organisation shall ensure that the sale or transfer will be at full market value, such valuation to be assessed by an independent surveyor experienced in the valuation of sporting facilities and approved in writing by the English Sports Council. An appropriate proportion of the proceeds (determined by the English Sports Council by reference to the proportion of the original Facility cost met by Grant and taking account of the period of use) will be surrendered to the English Sports Council unless otherwise agreed in writing in advance by the English Sports Council.
1.2.2 If the Facility or part of the Facility is leased, or otherwise disposed of, or ceases to be used for the sports purposes approved by the English Sports Council, the market value of the Facility will be assessed by an independent surveyor approved in writing by the English Sports Council and an appropriate proportion of such value (determined by the English Sports Council by reference to the proportion of the original Facility cost met by the Grant and taking account of the period of use) will be surrendered to the English Sports Council unless otherwise agreed in writing in advance by the English Sports Council.
Please contact Michelle Turner by email [email protected] for more information relating to this press release.