Council update on Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Services 11/04/24

A number of formal requests have been made by the council to Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Trust (the Trust) in relation to Aberfan & Merthyr Vale Community Centre. This request is to allow the council to provide a leisure provision from the centre from 1^st May 2024.

To date, no response has been received from the Trust.

As part of any potential legal transfer, a due diligence exercise is required. This is to ascertain the state of the company and will allow us to understand the legal and financial liabilities, for example understanding existing contract and debts.

Until a request is made by the Trustees to the Council in relation to the transfer of Trusteeship – and the relevant information is shared with us by the Trust – this due diligence exercise cannot begin.

In the meantime, the Council continues its discussions with an alternative, experienced, leisure provider to operate services at Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre from 1^st May 2024. These conversations include the reopening of the pools at Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre. At this point we cannot name the provider because we have not yet awarded the contract.

Council officers will continue to pursue the Trust in relation to Aberfan & Merthyr Vale Community Centre. We must, however, reiterate that the responsibility of service provision at the centre sits firmly with the Trust.

We will provide a further update as things progress.