Agenda item

To approve proposals to enter into a formal funding agreement with Sandwell Leisure Trust and Places Leisure.

Approval was sought for proposals to enter into a formal funding agreement with Sandwell Leisure Trust and Places Leisure.

The Council had been successful with its application to Sport England, on behalf of Sandwell’s leisure operators (Sandwell Leisure Trust and Places Leisure).

The Council had completed a grant agreement with Sport England and was holding the funds whilst Cabinet approval was sought before passporting funds to the operators.

A full project appraisal had been undertaken by Strategic Finance. The appraisal process recorded a ‘satisfactory’ score of 65%. Some risks had been identified resulting from the appraisal and action points recommended to mitigate these risks.

As the applicant the Council was required to enter into a formal Grant Funding Agreement with Sport England. In line with the above, the Council was required to enter into a formal funding agreement with Sandwell Leisure Trust and Places Leisure prior to passporting funds.

The intention of the National Leisure Recovery Fund was to provide financial support to leisure operators. Councils were required to apply for funds on behalf of their operators and passport funds to operators.

Reason for Decision

The payment of the grant to Sandwell Leisure Trust would reduce the risk of any potential financial difficulties to them whilst the leisure sector recovers thus reducing the risk of any potential further support required from the Council. The payment of the grant to Places Leisure will ease financial pressures on the Council in providing financial support.

Alternative Options Considered

The only other alternative would be that the Council did not passport the grant funding to the operators and return monies already received to Sport England.

                           Agreed:-

(1)          that the Interim Director of Borough Economy be authorised to enter into a legal grant agreement with Sandwell Leisure Trust, transferring the obligations of the funding award to Sandwell Leisure Trust;

(2)          that the Interim Director of Borough Economy be authorised to enter into a legal grant agreement with Places Leisure, transferring the obligations of the funding award to Places Leisure;

(3)          that in connection with Resolution (1), payment of  grant funding be made to Sandwell Leisure Trust;

(4)          that in connection with Resolution (2), that payment of  grant funding be made to Places Leisure (including deduction for April and May);

(5)          that the following action points identified within the Appraisal Report be implemented to reduce any risk to the Council:

·               That prior to passporting any funding to the Council’s leisure operators, the Council enter into a funding agreement with Sandwell Leisure Trust and Places Leisure, with the same terms and conditions as those contained in the agreement with Sport England.

·               That in relation to Resolution (2) and (3) of the Appraisal Report, the accuracy of data provided to Sport England for funding and monitoring purposes should be verified by Sandwell MBC.

·               That a process for Sandwell Leisure Trust & Places Leisure to capture all required data in accordance with the funder’s timescales, terms and conditions is established.

·               That grant claims are verified by Sandwell MBC as eligible expenditure, as part of the monitoring process undertaken by the Council.

·               That the Risk Register is reviewed to ensure all risks are adequately assessed and mitigated with responsible officers and target dates for the mitigation of risks identified.

·               State aid advice is sought from Legal Services to ensure all grant funding is state aid compliant.

·               That VAT/tax advice is sought from the Council’s Tax Accountant.