Dear [local MP],
[I/We] [am/are] writing to you as the [Leader/Portfolio holder for sport and physical activity/Chief Executive] of [council name]. [I/We] [am/are] responsible for our local public sport and leisure infrastructure, which is facing an extraordinary financial crisis due to the ongoing impacts from COVID-19, the cost of living and the energy crisis.
In [council name] we have [number] leisure centres and [number] swimming pools, used by [X number of people]. These facilities are at the heart of our community, helping people to be active, improving their health and wellbeing, and to meet other people in the community.
Leisure assets are by their nature energy-intensive buildings, with cooling and heating costs, with the latter being exacerbated by the onset of the winter season. Evidence gathered nationally from leisure providers shows that since 2019 energy bills have risen by 300 per cent. Our swimming pools have seen an increase in energy costs, [insert figure}, while our leisure centres have increased [insert figure]. Clearly, this is unstainable, and we are forced to [consider/take] the difficult decision to close facilities [and/or] reduce services.
In light of these pressures, [I/we] have significant concerns about the decision to exclude swimming pools and leisure centres from the list of sectors eligible for extra support under the Government’s Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme and the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Even with the support from the new schemes which come into effect in April 2023, energy prices will still be much higher than levels in 2019.
We have ambitious plans for our leisure services. [Insert any local refurbishment plans, co-location or co-operation with health services, levelling up bids, or energy-efficiency work.]
But we can’t do this alone. Without immediate and longer-term sustainable funding from the Government we are at risk of losing these vital services. A survey carried out by Ukactive in November 2022 showed that 40 per cent of council areas will likely see leisure centres close or services reduce before 31 March 2023. Three quarters (74 per cent) of council areas are classified as ‘unsecure’, meaning there is risk of closure or reduced services before 31 March 2024. Many provider contracts also have legally binding schedules that transfer the risk of energy price increases to their local authority meaning pressures will likely come to a head at the end of this financial year, affecting council budgets for 2023/24.
Please note: The template includes national data on facility closures to highlight the extent of the problem. Councils should not feel pressured to include sensitive information about the number of facility closures/restrictions in their council. This is optional content for any councils who are able and willing to share further details of their situation. Please delete this note before sending the letter] [To date we have [closed/reduced services/plans to close] [number] leisure centres [and/or] [number] swimming pools.
Leisure centres and swimming pools are more than a lifestyle choice, they are a vital service to our communities [in council name] because:
- They provide affordable opportunities for communities to be active and healthy with 8.9 million users annually. [In council name this translates to X number of users] They are especially important for users in more deprived areas who are more likely to use their local leisure centre (Sport England). [Our data tells us X number of people from these areas are using their local leisure centre]
- 72 per cent of all schools [and X number of our local schools] rely on public swimming pools to deliver their statutory responsibility for learn to swim and the water safety curriculum. It is where the majority of young people learn to swim (typically 85 per cent), 14 million adults swim annually, and it is where the sport of swimming is completely rooted. Swimming saves the health and care system £357 million a year,
- 75 per cent of all grassroots sport clubs [and x number of our local clubs] rely on public leisure centres to operate and provide opportunities for communities to be active.
- People’s health and wellbeing relies on swimming pools and leisure facilities. They ease the burden on the NHS and social care. Leisure centres and are instrumental to NHS services, delivering 68 per cent of cancer rehabilitation services. [Our local NHS partners rely on our leisure centres to deliver [insert local examples of NHS programme(s) using leisure centres to deliver their services]]
- Being physically active prevents many serious physical and mental health conditions. Nationally, it saves £9.5 billion per year. Of this amount, £5.2 billion is in healthcare savings and £1.7 billion is in social care savings, while a further £20 billion of value comes from stronger and safer communities (Sport England). [In council name it saves £X]
- They provide an estimated 585,000 jobs in the UK, [and X number of jobs and career opportunities locally], particularly for young people who make up a large proportion of the paid workforce.
[I/We] [am/are] not writing to request a hand-out. Around the country, councils and their partners have been working together to transform facilities into assets fit to meet the challenges of the future.
[I/we] therefore join our colleagues around the country in urging the Government to act swiftly with three key measures:
- Reclassify pools and leisure centres as an energy and trade intensive industry in the Energy Bills Discount Scheme so they can access the higher level of energy price discount.
- Set out what tangible support it will provide to the wider sector – including gyms and sports facilities – to help navigate the energy crisis across 2023 so that service restrictions and facility closures can be minimised.
- Set out a “plan for the growth” for the sector by aligning the proposed new Sports Strategy with the Spring Budget to unlock the potential of the sector to support.
As [my/our] colleague and local MP, [I/we] ask you to meet with [me/us] to discuss this issue further and for you to write to the Chancellor and Minister for Sport and Minister for Equalities, raising these concerns in Parliament to highlight the impact facility closures will have on vulnerable communities, on vital public services like the NHS and on inequalities and economic growth.
Yours sincerely,
[Signed]
How to use the model letter:
This model letter is a template that councillors, whole councils, MPs or other politicians may use to highlight the LGA’s call on the Government to provide short term support and long term sustainable funding for the public sport and leisure sector to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP and the Minister for Sport and Minister for Equalities, Stuart Andrew MP. You can either send your letter via email to [email protected] and [email protected] or post it to:
Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Correspondence and Enquiry Unit
1 Horse Guards Road
Westminster
London
SW1A 2HQ
United Kingdom
Stuart Andrew MP, Minister for Sport, Tourism and Civil Society, and Minister for Equalities Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ
United Kingdom
The aim of the letter is to:
- create allyship for the public sport and leisure sector across different political structures by increasing awareness and understanding of the challenges facing the sector and its value to communities, places and wider objectives.
- highlight the impact facility closures will have on health and wellbeing, vulnerable communities, other vital public services, inequalities and economic growth
- support and reiterate the LGA’s call on Government to:
- reclassify pools and leisure centres as energy intensive in the Energy Bills Discount Scheme so they can access the higher level of energy price discount.
- set out what tangible support it will provide to the wider sector – including gyms and sports facilities – to help navigate the energy crisis across 2023 so that service restrictions and facility closures can be minimised.
- set out a “plan for the growth” for the sector by aligning the proposed new Sports Strategy with the Spring Budget to unlock the potential of the sector to support the economic, health, and social wellbeing of the nation.
The template includes national data and optional suggestions of local examples you may wish to include. Do not worry if you don’t have access to all the data mentioned in the template, or there are parts of the letter that don’t fit your local situation or information you are not comfortable sharing. The inclusion of local examples is optional and can be deleted. In this case the template will include national data which can still be effectively used to highlight the breadth of the issue. It is more important that Ministers receive a letter with some of the information than nothing at all.
While the focus of this letter is on publicly owned and run facilities, you may wish to highlight concerns of local community run facilities and pools, or those in schools and educational establishments. Please feel free to do so.
The LGA is keen to understand the reach and the impact of this template letter. If you choose to use it, please email a copy of your letter to [email protected] and to share any positive outcomes.
Text in brackets is for personalisation or can be deleted if not required.
Dear Chancellor and Minister for Sport and Minister for Equalities,
[I/We] [am/are] writing to you as the [Leader/Portfolio holder for sport and physical activity/Chief Executive] of [council name]. [I/We] [am/are] responsible for our local public sport and leisure infrastructure, which is facing an extraordinary financial crisis due to the ongoing impacts from COVID-19, the cost of living and the energy crisis.
In [council name] we have [number] leisure centres and [number] swimming pools, used by [X number of people]. These facilities are at the heart of our community, helping people to be active, improving their health and wellbeing, and to meet other people in the community.
Leisure assets are by their nature energy-intensive buildings, with cooling and heating costs, with the latter being exacerbated by the onset of the winter season. Evidence gathered nationally from leisure providers shows that since 2019 energy bills have risen by 300 per cent. [Our swimming pools and leisure centres have seen an increase in energy costs of insert figure]. Clearly, this is unstainable, and we are forced to [consider/take] the difficult decision to close facilities [and/or] reduce services.
In light of these pressures, [I/we] have significant concerns about the decision to exclude swimming pools and leisure centres from the list of sectors eligible for extra support under the Government’s Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme and the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Even with the support from the new schemes which come into effect in April 2023, energy prices will still be much higher than levels in 2019.
We have ambitious plans for our leisure services. [Insert any local refurbishment plans, co-location or co-operation with health services, levelling up bids, or energy-efficiency work.]
But we can’t do this alone. Without immediate and longer-term sustainable funding from the Government we are at risk of losing these vital services. A survey carried out by Ukactive in November 2022 showed that 40 per cent of council areas will likely see leisure centres close or services reduce before 31 March 2023. Three quarters (74 per cent) of council areas are classified as ‘unsecure’, meaning there is risk of closure or reduced services before 31 March 2024. Many provider contracts also have legally binding schedules that transfer the risk of energy price increases to their local authority meaning pressures will likely come to a head at the end of this financial year, affecting council budgets for 2023/24.
Please note: The template includes national data on facility closures to highlight the extent of the problem. Councils should not feel pressured to include sensitive information about the number of facility closures/restrictions in their council. This is optional content for any councils who are able and willing to share further details of their situation. Please delete this note before sending the letter] [To date we have been forced to close/reduce services/plan to close [X number] of swimming pools and [X number of] leisure centres.
Leisure centres and swimming pools are more than a lifestyle choice, they are a vital service to our communities [in council name] because:
- They provide affordable opportunities for communities to be active and healthy with 8.9 million users annually. [In council name this translates to X number of users] They are especially important for users in more deprived areas who are more likely to use their local leisure centre (Sport England). [Our data tells us X number of people from these areas are using their local leisure centre]. 75 per cent of all grassroots sport clubs [and x number of our local clubs] rely on public leisure centres to operate in order to provide opportunities for communities to be active.
- 72 per cent of all schools [and X number of our local schools] rely on public swimming pools to deliver their statutory responsibility for learn to swim and the water safety curriculum. It is where the majority of young people learn to swim (typically 85 per cent), 14 million adults swim annually (2019), and it is where the sport of swimming is completely rooted. Swimming saves the health and care system £357 million a year,
- People’s health and wellbeing relies on swimming pools and leisure facilities. They ease the burden on the NHS and social care. Leisure centres and are instrumental to NHS services, delivering 68 per cent of cancer rehabilitation services. [Our local NHS partners rely on our leisure centres to deliver [insert local examples of NHS programme(s) using leisure centres to deliver their services]]
- Being physically active prevents many serious physical and mental health conditions. Nationally, it saves £9.5 billion per year. Of this amount, £5.2 billion is in healthcare savings and £1.7 billion is in social care savings, while a further £20 billion of value comes from stronger and safer communities (Sport England). [In council name it saves £X]
- They provide an estimated 585,000 jobs in the UK, [and X number of jobs and career opportunities locally], particularly for young people who make up a large proportion of the paid workforce.
[I/We] [am/are] not writing to request a hand-out. Around the country, councils and their partners have been working together to transform facilities into assets fit to meet the challenges of the future.
[I/we] therefore join our colleagues around the country in urging the Government to act swiftly with three key measures:
- Reclassify pools and leisure centres as an energy and trade intensive industry in the Energy Bills Discount Scheme so they can access the higher level of energy price discount.
- Set out what tangible support it will provide to the wider sector – including gyms and sports facilities – to help navigate the energy crisis across 2023 so that service restrictions and facility closures can be minimised.
- Set out a “plan for the growth” for the sector by aligning the proposed new Sports Strategy with the Spring Budget to unlock the potential of the sector to support.
[I/we] ask you to work with the Local Government Association to prevent further closures and accelerate our progress towards a sustainable leisure network. We stand ready to work in partnership with the Government on this agenda.
Yours sincerely,
[Signed]