EXCLUSIVE by EWAN LAMB
Efforts to promote participation in sport and foster culture and the arts across the Scottish Borders appear to have taken a knock last year following a £500,000 cut in the management fee paid to the firm which delivers leisure services on behalf of the local council.
In a newly published annual report LIVE Borders Ltd. reveal visits to sports facilities fell by more than 50,000 in 2017/18 (down from 1,164,085 to 1,110,085) while in the same period so called cultural visits dropped from 730,614 to 695,460, a reduction of more than 35,000. The company recorded a deficit of £459,000 on the financial year.
The business which is also a charity took over responsibility for Scottish Borders Council's museums, libraries and other cultural services in 2016, adding to its remit for sports facilities. LIVE Borders was a victim of local government spending cuts last year when councillors decided to trim the annual management fee by ten per cent from just over £6 million to £5.5 million.
LIVE Borders' objectives are listed as "advancement of health through helping people to improve or maintain their health; the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture and science; provision of facilities and services for recreational, sporting and other leisure time occupations in the interests of social welfare".
According to the annual report: "The sports cost per visit (£7.67 pence compared to £7.15 pence in 2016/17) was adversely affected by the change in allocation of management costs. The culture visits were adversely affected by a change in the recording methodology at our largest site as well as a small decline in library visitor numbers".
In a section dealing with the financial position, the accounts from the company says: "Unfortunately LIVE Borders was not immune to the pressures on public finances and our management fee was reduced by ten per cent."
As a result of the cash cuts LIVE Borders carried out several staffing reviews over the year with six members of staff taking voluntary redundancy for which they were paid a total of £121,898.
The report warns: "Ongoing challenges with regards the levels of public funding being available to local authorities remains a major uncertainty and risk to the ongoing success of LIVE Borders Ltd. There remains concern that the management fee from Scottish Borders Council is only committed for one year at a time and this restricts the ability of the Trust to pursue new investment for larger projects".
* Meanwhile one of the main Scottish Borders arts venues which receives a chunk of its core funding from LIVE Borders has expressed concern that its future allocations of money are to be cut.
Eastgate Theatre (Peebles) Ltd., in its annual accounts, points out: "In the current ckimate and in common with other charities, a guarantee of core funding for more than one year in advance cannot be obtained in writing. Indeed LIVE Borders have indicated an ongoing reduction in funding over future years".
The 21-year-old theatre company received £81,000 from LIVE Borders last year, down from £83,000 the previous year. Its report illustrates the key role played by volunteers.
Eastgate say: "The company...will depend both on volunteers to fulfil many functions coupled with fundraising and grants to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure.
"During the year the number of hours of voluntary work was estimated at 5,000 hours equating to £40,000 worth of donated services. The use of volunteers in the day to day running of the Eastgate including administrative tasks, assistance in the cafe, front of house and event support has been invaluable".
The theatre increased its total income last year from £496,000 to £580,000 and finished the financial year with a deficit of £942.
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