John Comiskey: We must all be active in protecting leisure services

Edinburgh Leisure's withdrawal of services from both the Crags Sports Centre and Queensferry Recreation Centre and the re-introduction of charges for primary school children swimming are just three very tangible signs of the financial pressures that currently face public leisure provision in Edinburgh. And unless something changes, it could get worse.

First the reality check - providing swimming pools, pitches, gyms and games halls that are safe, welcoming, open and available to everyone costs councils a lot of money. That is a fact that is true throughout the country. It's also true that councils the land over are required to cut their costs, 90 million in the case of Edinburgh. Based on these stark facts alone and the range of impossible decisions our council is faced with, it comes as no surprise that Edinburgh Leisure is currently facing funding cuts of more than 1 million per year from 2013/14 onwards.

The "saving" to the council is easy to quantify, but the question is - at what cost? There are few people who would disagree with the view that encouraging people to get off their sofas is a good thing. I would suggest, however, that it is far more than that. In fact, it's a matter of life and death.

Fact: Physically active people reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke by 50 per cent.

Fact: In Scotland, 63 per cent of adults, 25 per cent of boys and 32 per cent of girls are not active enough to maintain health (much worse than the UK average).

Fact: 28 per cent of people in deprived areas of Scotland never exercise, compared with 12 per cent in the least deprived areas.

Fact: Scotland has amongst the highest obesity and heart disease rates in the world (third most obese nation behind the USA and Mexico).

Fact: The Lothians has the highest proportion of obese children in Scotland.

Sport and leisure also has a role to play in making our communities safer places for us all to enjoy. There is clear evidence to suggest that children and young people engaging in sport and physical activity can lead to a reduction in recorded levels of antisocial behaviour. Edinburgh's Open All Hours programme is an example of one such approach. Delivered in partnership with Edinburgh City Council, Open All Hours creates opportunities for around 350 young people a week to spend their Friday evening taking part in challenging and fun activities in leisure centres across the city.

The list above could go on and on, but the point is, spending on leisure services that are available to everyone to increase activity levels, improve health and make our communities safer is an essential investment in our quality of life and future prosperity, not a "nice to have".

As a not-for-profit company that spends every penny on getting more people more active, less money coming in to Edinburgh Leisure means less leisure provision.

It's also worth reflecting on the fact that in its first 12 years of operation, Edinburgh Leisure has seen an increase in customer visits of 25 per cent, while at the same time reducing reliance on council funding from more than 50 per cent of its total income to around one third. The leisure trust model works and in Edinburgh's case has contributed to the fact that the council spend per head on leisure is much lower than in any other local authority in Scotland and less than one third of what is spent per head in Glasgow.

So, is it really all doom and gloom? Not at all. In my view, Martin Hannan was spot on in his excellent article last week ("Our city needs a sporting chance") when he identified the key to protecting future leisure services as being more "joined-up thinking".

Edinburgh Leisure already plans to build upon the excellent health-related programmes we currently deliver in partnership with the NHS (helped by the fact that our chair happens to also be the chair of NHS Lothian).

It was also uplifting only last week to see the announcement of 5m, (600,000 for Edinburgh), being made available from the Cashback for Communities scheme for new 3G artificial pitches. I believe, however, that the biggest single step we as a city could make is to unlock the full potential of the pools, gyms, halls and pitches in our secondary schools.

These wonderful facilities should, quite rightly, be used to enhance our children's learning experience during school hours. Outwith those hours, however, they should be professionally and consistently run for the wider benefit of the communities, along the lines of other Edinburgh Leisure run facilities. Too often at the moment they are either completely unavailable or available to selected clubs only.

Without some serious "joined-up thinking" on this point, I fear the council's aspiration "to become the most active city in Europe by 2020" is little more than wishful thinking.

John Comiskey is the chief executive at Edinburgh Leisure

Missing the target

EDINBURGH Leisure was established as a not-for-profit firm by the city council in 1998 and is the largest provider of sport and leisure in the Capital. It has a turnover of 23 million, 750 employees and 4.1 million customers every year.

It operates a wide range of facilities, including Meadowbank Sports Centre, the Royal Commonwealth Pool, the Port Edgar Marina and the Braid Hills Golf Course. The body itself has not been immune to cuts in recent months. The Queensferry Recreation Centre was scheduled to close this weekend, just months after the Crags Sports Centre was forced to shut because Edinburgh Leisure could no longer afford to run it.