Decision details

In respect of an offer of £306,065 capital grant funding from the English Sports Council, the Director of Finance & Assets agrees to accept a capital grant with the English Sports Council whereby a capital grant payment of £306,065 will be paid to the Council and to sign the capital grant agreement between the English Sports Council and Cheltenham Borough Council.

The Director of Finance & Assets agrees to pass the whole capital grant to Sandford Lido Limited to enable them to install Photo Voltaic panels and Pool Covers and to sign the grant adherence agreement between the English Sports Council, Sandford Lido Limited (as the facility owner) and Cheltenham Borough Council (as applicant).

In the 2023, the Government announced the Swimming Pool Support Fund (SPSF), making available £60 million support for public swimming pool providers.

The funding was distributed in two phases. Phase II allocated £60 million in capital investment to improve the energy efficiency of public facilities with pools in the medium to long term.

The aims of Phase II of the SPSF was to improve the energy efficiency of public sector swimming pools and in doing so help alleviate costs pressures and mitigate the risk of closures of public sector swimming pools and the creation of areas without accessible public swimming pools.

Specifically, the fund objectives were to:
• Reduce the energy consumption level of facilities in receipt of funding, compared to baseline, and support the leisure sector to transition to a position of environmental and financial sustainability.
• Minimise the closure of swimming pool provision, where funding has been provided to a site, to prevent gaps in public leisure provision emerging.
• Reduce the carbon output of facilities in receipt of funding, compared to baseline, in line with HMG Net Zero by 2050 objectives.
• Prioritise support in those areas of greatest socio-economic need (as evidenced by IMD level), where all other factors are equal.

A phase II application was made in October 2023 and the council was subsequently notified that the application for the Lido was partly successful with an award of £306,065.

To access the grant and to pass it onto Sandford Parks Lido, the Sports Council have asked the council to enter into two grant agreements; the over-arching capital grant agreement, between the Sports Council as funder and the Council as applicant, and a grant adherence agreement between the Sports Council as funder, the Council as applicant and Sandford Parks Lido as facility owner. Although the Council retains the freehold of the Lido, Sandford Parks Lido are classed as facility owner as they have a lease in excess of seven years.

The Sports Council require that the Council enter into Capital Grant Agreement, together with a Grant Adherence Agreement. The purpose of the Capital Grant Agreement is to impose grant conditions on the Council as the applicant of the funding – an example being that the Council may not dispose of the facility for the Facility term (15 years) unless prior consent is obtained from the Sports Council.

The Grant Adherence Agreement is a tri-party agreement which seeks to impose further obligations on the Facility Owner (which in this case is Sandford Park Lido as the Leaseholder). In order to ensure that all relevant obligations are passed onto Sandford Park Lido, it is the intention to amend this Grant Adherence Agreement or enter into an additional grant agreement between the Council and Sandford Park Lido, ensuring that the Council may comply with its own obligations by further imposing the same onto Sandford Park Lido.

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