Warrington leisure services to be run by council

LiveWire was set up by the council as a community interest company in 2012

Leisure services in a town are set to be run by the council again, as the authority could face legal challenges if it funds the provider.

LiveWire can no longer provide the services in Warrington on behalf of the council without subsidies.

But following advice the council said there was "no lawful way" to provide financial assistance for LiveWire to be run in the same form.

The plans will be discussed at a meeting next week.

LiveWire was set up by the council as a community interest company in 2012 to manage leisure, library and some wellbeing services.

The company faced issues following the pandemic and cost increases in areas such as energy and staffing.

The council had agreed to provide a grant to support the services in January.

Under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority can advise on subsidiaries, which it has now done.

A report to Warrington Council's cabinet said there was a risk legal action could be brought against the authority for a breach of the act over awarding an unlawful subsidy.

"While we can't confirm the likelihood of a challenge, given that the report identifies significant areas of potential improvement that an interested party could form their challenge around, there is deemed to be a disk of successful challenge should one be brought," the report said.

Without council support, LiveWire would be unable to fulfil its contract with the authority to provide the services and be at risk of insolvency.

As a result, the council's cabinet is being asked to approve plans to bring the services back in-house.

The report recommended an interim grant of up to £4.8m would be made available to LiveWire to allow it to continue trading until the point of transfer.

Bringing the service in-house could happen before the end of this financial year, the report added.

The plans will be discussed by Warrington Council's cabinet on Monday.