South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture

SLLC Budget and Services Statement

UPDATED Thursday 29 February 2024

Further details have been provided of arrangements that could keep community halls and other facilities open despite some difficult budget decisions that have had to be taken by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC).

The arrangements will be taken forward in conjunction with South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) after the SLLC Board on Wednesday agreed to proposals to withdraw its services from a number of facilities.

Although withdrawal means the venues are due to be handed back to South Lanarkshire Council (SLC), on whose behalf SLLC operates the venues, after 31 March, that will now not be the case.

Instead, SLLC will be funded by SLC to keep all the halls and other facilities open until 30 April while SLC works with local groups to explore options for each to potentially have a long-term future under community management and operation. Further funding will be available to keep facilities open for longer wherever there is a real interest in a Community Asset Transfer.

The temporary funding arrangements were announced by SLC last week through its £1million Community Fightback Fund (CFF). A Future Libraries Fund was also announced as a separate, £150,000 fund to reprovision services wherever a library is affected by rationalisation. More details of the two funds can be found here.

The developments follow both SLC and SLLC’s budgets being agreed for 2024-25. Together with councils and leisure service providers across Scotland, both continue to face unprecedented budgetary pressures. SLC’s budget gap over the next two years is £42 million. As SLLC’s largest funder, this has had a knock-on impact on the services SLLC can itself deliver, which was reflected in proposals considered by its Board on Wednesday 28 February.

Chair of the Board of SLLC, Dr Avril Osborne, commented:

“Decisions were required to be taken in light of existing financial pressures placed on SLLC as well as SLC’s decision at its own Budget setting meeting last week to reduce the management fee it provides to SLLC to run its services.

“A comprehensive consultation process with residents and other stakeholders took place between November last year and this month which saw around 14,500 responses received across the three stages of the resident consultation.

“Work has been ongoing throughout to examine how we best mitigate matters, including through efficiencies, rationalisation and increased income generation. However, with a regulatory duty to ensure we return a balanced budget, the Board has, with regret, agreed to withdraw from the following facilities:

Clydesdale area:
Crawford Village Hall
Coulter Village Hall
Carmichael Village Hall
Crossford Village Hall
Braehead Village Hall
Tom Craig Hall
Carstairs Junction Hall
Thankerton Village Hall
Douglas St. Brides Hall
Carstairs Village Hall
Pettinain Village Hall
Forth Library

Hamilton area:
Uddingston Community Centre
High Blantyre Community Hall
Tileworks Park (Pitches)
Ferniegair Hall
June Stewart Centre (Hall)
Larkhall Hall Netherburn Community Hall
TACT Hall
Blantyre Library
Hillhouse Library
Bothwell Library

East Kilbride area:
Greenhills Hall
Calderwood Hall
Strathaven Park (seasonal operation)
Kirktonholme Hall
Westwood Community Hall
Stewartfield Community Centre
Greenhills Library

Cambuslang/Rutherglen area:
North Halfway Hall
Eastfield Community Centre
Peter Brownlie Pavilion
Halfway Library
Cambuslang Library"

However, given SLC’s Community Fightback Fund (CFF) and Future Libraries Fund, none of these will close immediately.

It is anticipated that groups which believe they have a credible interest in potentially managing their local facility will be able to register this interest with the Council throughout March 2024. Applications for further funding can then be made.

Further funding arrangements could include access to Renewable Energy Funds (REF) that are administered by the Council, if the community hall is located in one of the REF areas in Clydesdale, East Kilbride and Strathaven.

Dr Osborne concluded:
“SLLC and SLC are already engaged in the community to actively support continuation of facilities through these initiatives and that support will continue in the months ahead.”

Any local groups wishing to register an interest should email the council at communityassets@southlanarkshire.gov.uk before 31 March 2024.

Further information on community asset transfers can be found on the relevant SLC webpage https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/community-asset-transfer.

Details of the three phases of the SLLC consultation can be found on our website. https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/sllc/news/article/4428/resident_consultation_-_results