Moray Council shares leisure service review and proposed 2025/26 Fitlife? membership fees

A new corporate membership option; a slight increase in children’s swimming lesson costs; an uplift of 20p for concession swimming access and up to 60p increase for fitness room use have also been proposed. The full list of proposed price increases can be found online and would be expected to generate an additional £150,000 for the leisure service. The final decision on any changes to charges across council services will be taken in February.

The proposals were taken into consideration alongside details of an external review carried out on the council’s leisure service. A further report will be brought to elected members detailing what the review recommendations mean for Moray Council’s leisure offering.

The review established that a number of charges for Moray Council leisure facilities are below the Scottish average and that, in order to increase income to help sustain leisure services, prices should be increased.

A summary of key findings from the review includes:

• Critical need to balance financial sustainability with the accessibility and strategic goals of the Council.
• Condition of current facilities is a major consideration in the future planning of the service as major capital investment is required to ensure services remain functional.
• Sport and Leisure Service must be realigned to better support public health objectives, community wellbeing and financial sustainability.
• Careful planning in any facility rationalisation or capital investment is required to ensure accessibility across both rural and urban areas.
• Explore cost-saving opportunities such as energy efficiency improvements and increase income through service charges in specific areas that are well below the regional average.
• Explore a more streamlined governance model that could drive further efficiencies.

These recommendations will be considered alongside the proposed strategic direction for Moray’s leisure services, which sets out core expectations and priorities for the service.

Following the Full Council meeting, Moray Council Leader, Cllr Kathleen Robertson, said: “The transformation of all of our services is crucial to us being able to sustain our offer of things like leisure facilities. A full-scale independent review of the leisure service, taking into account public views through consultation as well, was the right action to take and the result is we have a clear direction on how we can transform our offering in Moray.

“Initially, that means increasing our charges slightly to try and improve our income generation opportunities, bringing us closer in-line with neighbouring authorities. I hope our service users will understand the need for us to better cover our costs and continue to use our facilities, which still offer great value for money.

“Ultimately, we want our leisure estate to work for Moray communities while meeting public health needs in terms of wellbeing. I look forward to seeing the future recommendations that will come forward to council after full consideration of this review.”