HARD work by this administration has secured the future of the borough’s leisure centres and golf courses, without any further need to subsidise them with public money.

On June 25, the council’s cabinet will consider a proposal to lease these centres to GLL, a leading not-for-profit sports and leisure organisation.

If cabinet adopts this proposal, we will have succeeded in our goal of providing a sustainable future for the borough’s leisure facilities.

This report follows many months of consultation, including “soft market testing” with providers to see what would generate the most interest. We started with an offer of 99-year leases because contract rules mean you can only negotiate down, not up.

We were reasonable and pragmatic, unlike others who would be ideological. Following good negotiations, I am pleased that the proposed lease will be for 25 years. We’ve also listened to the concerns of those who use the leisure centres and residents.

I can assure you that we have no desire to see any centres close; that is why will require the new operator to keep them open for at least ten years. The Hydro will have a shorter protection because of its distinctive nature.

We also want to see improvements at all our centres, so we have negotiated a deal that will secure this, too.

Our staff have worked long and hard on the bids, we have applied the most stringent due diligence to get the best, most sustainable deal for the whole borough. We owe them our thanks.

The recommendation is that cabinet signs a contract with GLL, a widely respected organisation that has a huge amount of experience in running council and former local authority sports centres. As a not-for-profit organisation, GLL invests any surplus back into improving facilities. At the moment, leisure centres need a £1.5m annual subsidy, which is about two per cent on our council tax bills. This deal removes that subsidy and helps the council find the £17m of savings it needs this year.

There are some who oppose this transfer, and others who call for delays. However, running a council is about making tough but necessary decisions. To delay puts the council at risk of losing up to £1m of savings – that is more than a one per cent increase in council tax.

I will urge all councillors to support this proposal, because neither the cabinet member leading on this, Keith Williams, nor I have seen any sensible alternatives put forward. Lastly, I am sure all England football fans will join me in wishing the team the best of luck for tonight’s crucial game.