Community Centres

An update will be given to next week's Council Executive which confirms that:

In brief:

• The council has been engaging with Community Centre Management Committees 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
• Currently individual Management Committees receive all the income generated via community centres and village hall lets, but the council pays for all of the costs for staffing, heating and electricity, maintenance and general upkeep of the facilities. This is no longer a sustainable operating model
• It remains the council's preference that community centres continue to remain community operated by local groups 
• However, if Management Committees or local groups choose not to adopt a new operating model by November 2025, and no other operating model has been proposed which will deliver the identified savings, then the council will, as a last option, consider bringing the management of community centres back under the council's control to ensure they remain open for community use. This would require changes to be made to the current operating arrangements, to ensure that centres become a sustainable local service where the income generated from their use goes towards their running costs. If the centres are brought back under council control, local community volunteers and representatives would continue to play a vital role in the running of the centres to ensure that a programme of events at each centre meet the needs of each community

Several Management Committees and local groups have already taken on the ownership of local facilities in West Lothian and these facilities continue to flourish. Others have shown a strong interest in adopting new operating models and are working with council officers.

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

"Our key objective throughout this exercise has been to work with Management Committees to help ensure that facilities remain open under new operating arrangements.

"We have also been clear that the historic operating model has to change as it is no longer sustainable for the council to incur all the costs associated with running community centres, without receiving any income from their lets that would help us pay for their upkeep. 

"From our engagement with Management Committees to date, I think it is widely accepted that the status quo cannot remain, as it is simply not sustainable as funding for non-statutory services becomes more scarce.

"Community Centres are not statutory services but they are an important part of the infrastructure of our communities and we fully recognise the role they play.  The objective of the project is to deliver service change to achieve the approved savings whilst continuing to work with our communities under a different model, to deliver a sustainable model of operation of community centres going forward.

"We need support from both the Management Committees, any other interested local groups, building users and the wider community to achieve this. "Over the coming months, we want to work with any group that sees an opportunity to retain these buildings in community management and secure their future. Engagement will continue with Management Committees and any other local group interested in taking on the ownership of community centres over the summer and autumn.

"Only if the other avenues have been exhausted will we, as a last option, consider bringing the management of community centres back into the council's control to ensure they remain open for community use.

"We will work on the detail of what that model of operation could look like and present that back to Council Executive for a decision in November. There will need to be changes in the way in which some centres operate and factors such as opening times and charges would need to be included a part of that review, to ensure centres are able to operate efficiently."

Julie added:

"We do also understand that, for some, taking on a building is a big commitment. I think we would all agree that having to make changes to services is not always easy and is never going to be met with universal agreement, but we need to move forward and find an outcome that meets the needs of our communities in the long term.

"Council budgets are at breaking point and if we are to run local services efficiently with less funding available to us then we need reflect on current practices and make changes to the way in which local services are run so that we can become more sustainable.  We cannot maintain the status quo.

"That's why we are looking at options that would allow the Centres to not just survive but to flourish."

Like other councils in Scotland, West Lothian Council faces further constrained funding and substantial costs over the next three years. Reductions in local government public spending have impacted council services for over 15 years and the council has made over £150 million worth of savings since 2007.