West Lothian Leisure have announced cost-cutting plans, including redundancies, to plug the recently revealed £2.6 million funding gap.
A six-week formal consultation was completed on June 30 to discuss the way forward for the charity which provides sport, leisure, outdoor education and cultural facilities from 20 sites across the region.
Two key restructuring activities were identified. Opening hours will be adjusted at times when they feel facilities are being under used and phased retirements and redundancies will contribute significantly to savings.
Robin Strang, chief executive, said: “Whilst we knew what savings we had to make, we went into the formal consultation exercise with an open mind, and conducted wide-ranging discussions around all the options with our staff team.
"We hoped that we would be able to minimise job losses, and while we are still reducing staff numbers, we hope to significantly reduce, or indeed eliminate, the need for compulsory redundancy. By adjusting opening hours and amending rotas, we have been able to take back wasted hours – where we have been fully staffed, but services are being used very little.”
West Lothian Leisure were also happy to announce that the restructuring will not include closure of Low Port at this juncture despite recent speculation.
However, they did point out that Low Port is under-utilised across much of the year, and as a result costs currently outweigh income.
While other Scottish Councils have withdrawn facilities altogether, outdoor education will continue in West Lothian at Low Port.
Until the end of 2019, residential bookings will be honoured, and thereafter the centre will become a daytime outdoor education facility, with staffing and opening hours matched to bookings.
Robin Strang added: “The changes we are implementing across the business will go a long way to safeguard the services we offer at West Lothian Leisure, but also to modernise it and create a service fit for the future.
"As I have said before, the circumstances we find ourselves in are not unique, nor could they have been avoided through any action we could have taken. Once the restructure is complete, we will move forward with a strong workforce and a plan that will see a leaner, more efficient, West Lothian Leisure far better prepared for the future.”
