Work to deliver a sustainable future for West Lothian's community centres is continuing to progress

The council has been working with Community Centre Management Committees over the past 18 months to discuss ways in which the committees can take on ownership and management of centres, but to also ensure that the income generated by the centres contributes towards the cost of running the centres, and that centres remain on a sound financial footing. 

Individual Management Committees currently receive all the income generated via community centres, but the council pays for all of the running costs for staffing, heating and electricity, maintenance and upkeep of the facilities. This is no longer financial sustainable for the council.

A report being discussed at next week's Policy and Resources PDSP sets out an update on progress.

Julie Whitelaw, Head of Housing, Customer and Building Services said:

"From the beginning, the main focus of this work has always been to include the local community in the future running of community centres and this will continue, no matter what outcome is agreed for each centre.

"We all want to ensure that all areas of West Lothian continue to have community centres and that the centres operate successfully and efficiently."

Of the 29 returns received 20 Management Committees have acknowledged a requirement to change the current operating model and have offered ways to support the delivery of a revised operating model.  Following the end of the first phase of work, 29 out of 31 Management Committees submitted returned forms to the council, with two Management Committees choosing not to submit any return.

Community Asset Transfer (CAT)

Where Management Committees have indicated an intent to undertake Community Asset Transfer (CAT) or enter into a Lease agreement, officers will continue engagement with them to provide advice and support to progress this.

Recharging

In order to support continued community operation of community centres, council officers are recommending that recharging becomes the default arrangement for all remaining Management Committees who do not progress with CAT or a lease. New arrangements would be introduced that would include setting out the service charge to cover the cost of the operation of the building and the staff support. Officers will work with Management Committees and will be supported to establish their staffing requirement, to consider their charging policies and maximise the usage and income generated by the activities, including any potential external funding they may be able to secure.

Alternative suggestions

A total of 15 proposals were received from 12 Management Committees who proposed an alternative in their return forms. The alternatives included increasing council tax to pay for community centres and the creation of a charitable trust.

Officers will continue to work with the twelve committees to clarify and develop their proposal to review their charges and operational requirements to deliver a sustainable alternative which would support continued community operation of the community centre and cover the cost of operating the community centre and to fully achieve the target saving.

Safety Net

Officers will make further contact with the remaining nine Management Committees who submitted returns and selected no option, did not suggest a financial contribution alternative or did not complete a return (excluding the Lanthorn and Stoneyburn), to confirm if this remains their position. If there is no change in their position,  it is proposed that officers will engage with other non-profit organisations to identify if they are interested in taking on responsibility for the community centre. Officers, together with Management Committees, will engage with other non-profit organisations (such as Scout Groups and football clubs) to consider CAT or alternative arrangements.  

If at the end of this long process, all other options fail to identify a sustainable model of community operation of a community centre, officers will consider any other options or measures which would ensure the continued operation of community centres, and ensure that each area has a community centre.

Julie Whitelaw added:

"The aim of the consultation is to support the continued community management of a local facility, that would meet the needs of the community and function under new ways of working.

"This has to ensure that the income being generated via community centres helps to pay for their up-keep and running costs, and eases the financial pressures across other council services.

"Everyone is well aware of the financial challenges being faced across Scotland by local authorities as we all try to maintain services with insufficient levels of funding. Changes to non-statutory services - such as community centres - are necessary if we are able to operate services more efficiently.

"We are doing our very best to deliver future services around the needs of local residents with the funding that we have available to us. Councils simply do not have enough funding to stand still and this is not something that we can ignore. Changes to the way in which centres operate is necessary.

To ensure parity in the arrangements, the scope of the project should expand to include community centres that are located in Partnership Centres and community wings in schools. This would mean that the operating model for community centres located in Partnership Centres and school wings would also change, requiring contributions to be made to meet the associated property and staffing costs.

Any additional savings that would be achieved through the inclusion of Partnership Centre and school wing community centres could be used to offset any potential financial impact on council services from the changes to the operating model for community centres.