Rutland County Council's Cabinet has voted to extend its Catmose Sports Centre contract with Stevenage Leisure Ltd (SLL) and will re-tender for an operator to continue the provision thereafter.

Rutland County Council announced on 26 January that "sadly, the Council has been unable to find an operator who can run Catmose Sports Centre at zero cost", meaning that the centre looked set to close to the public on 31 March 2023. 

Following backlash at a Council meeting concerning the closure, as well as receiving a sudden "interest from leisure operators", the Cabinet have voted in favour of extending their contract with SLL for 2 years while a search begins for new operators.

After confirming last week that it would revisit its original Catmose Sports Centre decision, Cabinet met on Tuesday 14 February to reconsider the second of two options presented by Council Officers to Cabinet Members in January:

Option B: The extension of the Stevenage Leisure Limited contract for the operation of the Catmose Sports Centre for up to 24 months, to 31 March 2025, to enable the development and implementation of a new model for future provision.

Cabinet subsequently voted in favour of Option B and the extension of Stevenage Leisure's existing contract. Cabinet also voted in favour of an amendment that will result in Rutland County Council going back out to tender for a leisure operator to run the sports centre after 31 March 2025.  

The amendment stipulates that the new tender exercise will once again seek to find an operator who can run Catmose Sports Centre at net-nil revenue cost to Rutland County Council. However, the process will not discount bids that carry some degree of financial risk, so they can be evaluated.

In addition, £300k already set aside in the Council's latest budget to either exit the Catmose Sports Centre contract or extend it will be used to help meet costs associated with the new procurement and any negotiations.

Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Leader of Rutland County Council, said: "It's the view of Cabinet that interest shown by commercial leisure operators since our original decision on 12 January represents a material change in circumstances.

"Having reconsidered the options in relation to Catmose Sports Centre, we now feel there is value in extending the Council's existing leisure contract while we launch a second procurement exercise that takes account of this latest development."

Having voted to rescind its original decision in favour of Option B, negotiations will take place with Stevenage Leisure with a view to extending their current contract and continuing operations at Catmose Sports Centre beyond 31 March 2023. 

The full agenda and reports presented to Cabinet on Tuesday 14 February can be read online. Minutes from the meeting will be published within 10 days of the meeting date.