Dundee gyms and libraries may shut and workers’ jobs lost under Covid-19 recovery plans being considered by council leaders.
Unions branded the strategy for restarting Leisure and Culture Dundee (LCD) services a “blueprint for a reduction in services and headcount” at a meeting of the council’s policy and resources committee on Monday night.
Papers published ahead of the meeting revealed the council’s sport and culture arm is facing a more than £3m financial black hole as result of the Covid-19 crisis.
LCD bosses would only say it was an “ambition” to restart all the services offered prior to the pandemic,
Councillors agreed on advance payment of a quarterly management fee in order to allow the organisation to keep trading until November.
Stephen Massey, GMB union representative, said: “We are concerned with what you have in front of you this evening, which is essentially a blueprint for a reduction in services, the reduction in headcount and the potential closure of facilities across the city.
“What we are seeing is essentially underfunding frontline services for mental health and wellbeing in the city.”
“The Covid emergency has shown that Lesiure and Culture has been operating on a hand to mouth basis over the last few years.
“The nature of the beast is we are in a spiral of decline. The viability of the organisation is now in question,” he added.
The report from LCD chief executive and acting managing director Judy Dobbie said:
“The only other avenue open to Leisure & Culture Dundee to reduce the projected deficit is to reduce the anticipated level of expenditure.
“Over 85% of the projected 2020/21 expenditure relates to staff costs and this is the only area where a reduction would have a significant impact on the projected financial position of the organisation.”
Lochee councillor Michael Marra, Labour, said: “As a board member of Lesiure and Culture, and quite frankly someone reading this paper, it is quite clear to me that in the absence of the council stumping up the cash LCD cannot continue to trade.
“When there’s no money coming through the tills, that’s the situation the organisation faces,” he added.
West End councillor Fraser McPherson, Liberal Democrats, asked if all facilities would reopen by November, as timetabled.
“The last thing anyone wants to see is the loss of community libraries or any other services across the city that LCD manages,” he said.
Judy Dobbie said the council’s sport and leisure arm was “very much on schedule” for restarting services in November.
“The financial deficit we are facing is too great for us to trade out of. The ambition for leisure and culture is for us to reopen our services and fulfil our charitable purpose.”
