West Lothian Council has agreed to guarantee the future of its struggling Xcite leisure trust to the end of the financial year.
Financial chiefs won approval to issue a “letter of comfort” to auditors promising to support West Lothian Leisure until April 2022.
The council’s Executive has already agreed core revenue funding of £2.312 million and a one-off capital payment of £370,000 for 2021/22.
In addition, the council’s approved 2021/22 to 2022/23 Revenue Budget includes an additional £3 million to help WLL cope with the continuing demands of Covid-19; £1.5 million in each of 2021/22 and 2022/23.
The council’s head of finance, Donald Forrest, told the August meeting of the Executive: “Azure, the WLL external auditors, have asked for a similar ‘letter of comfort’ to 2020/21 to be provided by the council to WLL stating that ‘the council will undertake cash flow management with WLL to allow them to remain in credit at all times, thus allowing them to proceed as a going concern and meet their everyday cash liabilities’ over the financial year following the signing of the accounts.”
SNP depute leader, Councillor Frank Anderson, who has called for arms-length organisation management to be brought back into the council, questioned the wording of the letter and its specific references “everyday cash”.
He told the meeting: “The phraseology has changed.”
Mr Forrest replied: “The letter is more or less the same as in previous years.”
A report to the Executive added that letter incorporates the wording suggested by the auditors, Azure.
The Xcite centres provides gyms and swimming pools across West Lothian West Lothian Leisure runs 20 sites in the county and faced losses of more than £8m because of the covid lockdown.
It has quit its tenancy of the Low Port outdoor activity centre in Linlithgow in an attempt to trim expenses and has worked with the council on producing a recovery plan. The council has also re-profiled loans to help the trust.
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