Harrogate council-created company to run leisure centres in Selby from 2024

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive met yesterday to approve a report that recommends Brimhams Active takes over Selby’s services, which includes Selby Leisure Centre, Tadcaster Leisure Centre and Summit Indoor Activity.

The arrangement will be on an interim basis whilst the new North Yorkshire Council undertakes a £120,000 review of leisure services, with the aim of creating a countywide model for delivering leisure and sport by 2027.

Selby District Council will not to renew its contract with Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles (IHL), a charity that manages its leisure services.

Brimhams Active was launched by Harrogate Borough Council in August 2021 when it took over control of leisure centres and swimming pools in Harrogate, Starbeck, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

Harrogate Borough Council hailed the move as a “new vision for the future” of services and said it would save around £400,000 a year through business rates relief and VAT benefits.

Ownership of the company and the contracts of all its staff will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council on April 1.

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Councillor Michael Harrison, Conservative councillor for Killinghall, Hampsthwaite and Saltergate, as well as executive member for health and adult social care, told the meeting yesterday: “The fact we can move management into Brimhams so seamlessly is an indiciation of the wider strength of all the counties coming together.

"We know we’ll do a review and due to the fact that Brimhams Active is relatively new but performing well, we can use strength of the joint councils to move things forward.”

The Brimhams Active board currently includes its managing director Mark Tweedie, Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson, director of economy and culture Trevor Watson as well as councillors Sam Gibbs, Stan Lumley and Pat Marsh.

Of the seven soon-to-be abolished district and borough councils, Harrogate Borough Council is the only authority that uses an arm’s length company to run services.

Scarborough, Ryedale, Selby and Richmond outsource their services whereas Hambleton and Craven provide theirs in-house.

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