Public Facilities - Freedom of information requests
Title or Description
Public Facilities
FOI Number
15610
Date Received
14/09/2021
Type of Request
FOI
Request or Question
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please could you advise on the following:1. Under the council's authority (either run directly by the council, or contracted to a third party on the council's behalf) how many of the following sites were open to the public in September 2010, and how many sites are open in September 2021?* Leisure Centres
* Indoor or outdoor swimming pools/facilities
* Playing fields and 3G/4G pitches (for grassroots sports purposes - e.g., football, rugby)
* Running tracks
* Other grassroots sports facilities
* Children's play parks/playgrounds
2. How many, if any, of the above sites were closed because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and remain closed in September 2021? For any closed sites, are there plans to reopen?
3. What was the council's expenditure on the following sites in the 2010/11 financial year, and how does this differ to expenditure in the 2021/22 financial year? If possible, please break these figures down by the categories below.
Response
1.
* Leisure Centres (managed by Live Borders * except Queens Centre in 10/11). The data for 2010 is not held, therefore we refer to s17 of FOI(S)A 2002.
* Indoor or outdoor swimming pools/facilities (managed by Live Borders/BREST/JLFT)
* Playing fields and 3G/4G pitches (for grassroots sports purposes - e.g., football, rugby) (managed by Live Borders) * 2021 - 34 grass football, 17 grass rugby and 2 grass hockey pitches.
* Running tracks (managed by Live Borders) *
* Other grassroots sports facilities (managed by Live Borders) *
* Children's play parks/playgrounds 186 play parks in parks and open spaces sites in 2010 and 139 in 2021.
* The responsibility for managing the Council’s leisure facilities was devolved to Live Borders in April 2016. Therefore we refer to section S17 of FOI(S)A 2002 and declare that information is not held. Live Borders can be contacted by visiting the website link provided below.
2. All of the above sites – pitches and play parks - were closed temporarily due to the pandemic and all are now open again.
3. Excluding play parks/playgrounds, the only facility still managed by the Council in 2010/11 was the Queens Centre in Galashiels. The net expenditure for this sports facility in 2010/11 was £105k. The Queens Centre was transferred under the management of Border Sport and Leisure Trust (BSLT), now Live Borders, in 2011. All other ‘sites’ were managed by either BSLT, Jedburgh Leisure Facility Trust or Berwickshire Recreation Education Sports Trust in 2010/11 (and 2021/22). Therefore some of the information you have requested cannot be provided because Scottish Borders Council does not hold it and therefore we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A 2002 and declare that the information is not held.
