Council under “unprecedented financial challenges” has no budget to repair lesiure centres

FACING “unprecedented financial challenges,” Warrington Borough Council has no budget to support the cost of repairs to either Woolston Neighbourhood Hub or identified issues at Broomfields Leisure Centres.

These are the stark facts presented by deputy leader of the council Jean Flaherty in a letter to Lib Dem Cllr Sharon Harris.
Cllr Flaherty was responding to a question from Cllr, Harris at Full Council on October 20.
In her response she states that “due to structural concerns with the building and the presence of legionella bacteria in the water supply, the council made the difficult decision to temporarily close Woolston Hub.
The letter went on to state an approx. bill of £3m to fully repair the hub.
She went on to say: “The council have no budget to support the cost of repairs to either Woolston Hub or issues identified at Broomfields.
“We have made efforts to attract Government funding for investment into Broomfields Leisure Centre, but have unfortunately been unsuccessful.”
“Therefore, any investment into either Woolston or Broomfields would need to be funded by capital borrowing. As you will be aware, capital borrowing attracts interests and repayments, which must be repaid from our revenue budget.
We are facing significant overall budget pressures and must make difficult decisions across services, making it a challenging time to take on more debt and associated costs with capital funding.
If new opportunities for appropriate levels of external funding arise, we remain committed to applying.
“However there are currently no known funding sources at the scale required to support the transformational investment needed.

Meanwhile, Warrington Borough Council has admitted it faces an “unprecedented financial challenge,” with a projected overspend of around £39 million for the 2025/26 financial year.
The majority of the pressure comes from rising costs and demand in adult and children’s social care, special educational needs, and homelessness provision.
To manage the situation and avoid a possible section 114 notice, the council has banned non-essential travel and recruitment, imposed stricter controls on overtime, and is seeking to make £30.4 million in savings for the 2025/26 budget.
A report has warned that failure to take action could lead to the need to consider a Section 114 notice.
In July 2025, the government appointed Ministerial Envoys to support, challenge, and advise the council due to concerns about its high debt levels (£1.8 billion as of January 2025) and commercial investment activities.
The envoys have powers to oversee the council’s improvement plan and ensure financial sustainability.
Tonight members of the Save Woolston Hub campaign group are planning a peaceful protest outside Warrington Parr Hall from 5.30pm – a meeting when elected members will be recommended to vote for an increase to their annual allowances.
The controlling Labour Group is also planning to apply for additional emergency funds from the Government and permission o increase Council tax above the current 5 per cent limit.