North Yorkshire Council
Overview and Scrutiny
10 June 2026
Active North Yorkshire Membership and Pricing Review
(Update and Corporate Membership proposals)
Report of the Corporate Director Community Development
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To update Members on progress made to implement the new pricing structure for Active North Yorkshire (ANY) and to seek feedback on the options for corporate memberships.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 On 3 February 2026 Executive approved proposals for a new membership and pricing structure for Active North Yorkshire.
2.2 The new pricing model aims to support the delivery of the Council’s Sport and Active Well Being Service as set out in the Strategic Leisure Review, specifically to:
· Establish a fair, consistent, and more equitable membership structure across all sites within North Yorkshire
· Create a range of products that give customers choice, and which meet changing customer needs and expectations.
· Create clear pathways for all customer types, encouraging more people to become and remain active.
· Position ANY as a health and wellbeing service, not just a traditional leisure provider.
· Simplify marketing through targeted campaigns for specific user groups.
· Maintain current income levels while unlocking greater potential to grow income.
· Support ongoing investment in leisure facilities, as identified through the Leisure Investment Strategy, to ensure facilities are attractive, modern and financially sustainable and achieve projected income targets linked to these investments.
2.3 An overview of the newly agreed membership packages, scheduled to be available across Active North Yorkshire hubs from mid‑August 2026, is set out below. These packages align with the phased rollout of the single Leisure Management System (LMS) and are designed to ensure a consistent customer offer across all sites.
|
Memberships (names tbc) |
Tier 1 |
Tier 2 |
|
Premium Membership |
£ 38.00 |
£ 46.00 |
|
Swim Only |
£ 30.00 |
£ 35.00 |
|
Corporate Premium Membership |
£ 32.30 |
£ 39.10 |
|
Concession Premium Membership |
£ 28.50 |
£ 34.50 |
|
Concession - Swim only |
£ 22.50 |
£ 26.25 |
|
Junior |
£ 22.00 |
£ 24.00 |
|
Virtual Classes & Online Health* |
£ 9.99 |
£ 9.99 |
|
Virtual Classes & Online Health - Bolt On** |
£ 5.00 |
£ 5.00 |
|
Funded Health (£0.00) |
£ 0.00 |
£ 0.00 |
|
Active Health (12 Weeks) |
£ 26.50 |
£ 26.50 |
|
Wellbeing (12 months) |
£ 28.50 |
£ 34.50 |
|
Community Hubs |
£ 26.50 |
£ 26.50 |
|
Learn to Swim |
£ 31.00 |
£ 31.00 |
|
Tier 1 - Bedale, Pateley Bridge, Northallerton, Richmond, Selby, Skipton, Starbeck, Stokesley, Tadcaster, Thirsk Tier 2 - Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon (Includes access to all tier 1) */ ** - Provisional price pending procurement of services |
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3.0 ISSUES AND OPTIONS
Update on Implementation
3.1 Due to the complexity and scale of the existing pricing structures, changes are being implemented in two phases. Core pay as you go pricing, learn to swim provision and a new concessionary scheme was introduced from 1 April 2026. This will be followed by the launch of new membership packages from mid-August 2026, once all sites have migrated to a single LMS.
3.2 New health and wellbeing memberships have been established to support users accessing services via referral pathways or health related schemes. These memberships will allow customers to be referred onto either a funded membership, provided at no cost to the individual, or an Active Health membership at a discounted rate. These offers will provide users with specialist support to address medical conditions or targeted interventions; support behaviour change and encourage increased physical activity and wellbeing.
Following the completion of a funded or Active Health membership, users will be transitioned to a Wellbeing Membership, aligned to the concessionary pricing model, for a period of 12 months. This will enable individuals to continue their progress and gradually integrate into the wider programme of activities available within the hubs. After this 12-month period, users will move onto the core membership and standard pricing models.
3.3 A new, consistent approach for Care Leavers has been agreed with the Children and Young People’s Service and is due to go live from mid-August 2026. This will provide unlimited free access to gyms and swimming pools for children in care, care leavers and Foster Carers. Previous legacy offers varied across sites and cohorts, and this change will ensure a fair and consistent approach across the new leisure offer.
3.4 Procurement for a new virtual online health membership is currently underway and on target for the September launch. The following services will be accessible either as a bolt on to existing memberships or as a standalone option for customers who want access to wider health services or require remote access and are unable to attend a centre in person:
· Private GP appointments for members and their household
· Remote physiotherapy sessions
· Access to qualified dietitians
· 24/7 mental health support
· Remote exercise classes and workout programmes
Options
Corporate memberships
3.5 A review of existing corporate offers has been undertaken and, in general, a broadly consistent approach was identified, although there were some variations in how the offers were categorised and what each included.
3.6 Across the current Active North Yorkshire service there are 121 legacy corporate membership arrangements in place for 3105 corporate members. These consists of varying sizes of employers – some regional, some specific to legacy district areas. By condensing this list and considering duplicate arrangements, the current corporate membership is applied to 112 different employers.
3.7 To support the transition of existing corporate members from legacy operators into the new corporate membership scheme, the service proposes to maintain two access routes for customers to join corporate memberships.
3.8 The first is an option to support commercial / local businesses where they become eligible for a corporate membership if a minimum number of their employees take out a membership. A minimum of 15 eligible people will constitute a threshold number for opening a corporate membership scheme. The standard discount for corporate members is 15% off monthly rates – single adults only and not available on concession rates.
3.9 The second is a core offer for specific service areas such as local government organisations, emergency services, the armed forces (including former service personnel), and will replace the existing blue light schemes in place across legacy areas.
3.10 Historically, all former district councils offered discounted memberships to Blue Light Card holders. However, following a review of existing corporate accounts, it became apparent that many organisations included within the Blue Light scheme were already eligible for discounted rates through established local or role specific corporate membership categories.
3.11 As the service is unable to control eligibility criteria within the national Blue Light Card scheme, it is proposed that this category is removed and replaced with defined corporate membership categories. Removing the Blue Light category and introducing clearly defined corporate memberships will enable the service to manage eligibility more effectively. This approach also provides an opportunity to rationalise discounted rates and clarify eligibility criteria, supporting stronger governance and more robust monitoring of all discounted membership schemes.
3.12 It is proposed the existing Blue Light offer is streamlined to individual categories as listed in 3.13. Whilst a small number of roles are proposed to be removed from the scheme it is likely that many of these individuals would remain eligible for discounted memberships through alternative routes. For example, teachers would be eligible through the NYC or Local Authority scheme, or where applicable, via their employer if employed by a school trust or academy with 15 or more employees within the membership scheme.
Proposed categories to be removed from the Blue Light scheme:
· Retired emergency services (but will be eligible for age related concessions where appropriate)
· Red Cross
· Non NHS – Optometrists, Dental practice, Social Care workers
· Non Local Authority – Teachers, Homelessness Workforce
3.13 New proposed corporate categories:
|
Route One |
||
|
Category |
Service |
Eligibility Proof |
|
Commercial / Local Businesses |
A minimum of 15 eligible people will constitute a threshold number for opening a corporate membership scheme. |
· In‑date employer ID badge · Payslip showing employer name · Written confirmation from a named central office contact
|
|
Route Two |
||
|
Category |
Service |
Eligibility Proof |
|
Serving Emergency Services |
· Ambulance Service · Cave Rescue · Fire Service · HM Coastguard · Highways England Traffic Officer · Lowland Search & Rescue · Mountain Rescue · Police · RNLI · Search & Rescue |
· In‑date employer ID badge · Payslip showing employer name · Written confirmation from a named central office contact
|
|
Armed forces |
· Royal Air Force · British Army · Royal Marines · MoD Civil Servants · MoD Fire Service · MoD Police · MoD Contractors · Reserve Armed Forces · Former service personnel/veterans |
· In‑date service ID · Veteran’s card - HM Armed Forces Veteran Card: Apply for a Veteran Card - GOV.UK · Employer confirmation |
|
NHS |
· NHS employed · Blood Bikes · Community First responders |
· In‑date NHS ID or confirmation |
|
Civil Service/Government agencies |
· HM Prison & Probation Service · Home Office · Local Authority |
· In‑date employer ID or confirmation |
3.14 All corporate membership would require renewed proof of eligibility every twelve months in order to retain access to the discounted rate. The number of memberships accessed per organisation would be monitored and managed through the Leisure Management System.
Phase two
3.15 Active North Yorkshire has a longer term ambition to work more closely with corporate clients through the development of more bespoke packages. This work is expected to take place in early 2027, following the completion of major project activity to roll out the new membership packages to existing members and to transition all customers onto a single leisure management system
3.16 The phase two corporate review will aim to cover:
· Bespoke corporate packages
· Health and wellbeing assessments
· Specialist support, including nutrition and musculoskeletal (MSK) interventions
· Employer subsidised membership options
· Corporate advertising and promotion opportunities
· Employer and employee added value incentives
4.0 CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES
4.1 When the service develops phase two of the corporate package, it will engage with key stakeholders, including Business North Yorkshire, Public Health, HR and other interested partners. An engagement exercise will be undertaken to understand how local employers support the health and wellbeing of their employees, and how Active North Yorkshire can support the delivery of this activity.
5.0 CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES
5.1 The provision of inclusive and accessible active wellbeing facilities and affordable pricing contributes to the Councils ambitions to support thriving places and ensure people are safe, healthy and living well.
6.0 IMPACT ON OTHER SERVICES/ORGANISATIONS
6.1 Successful delivery will be supported by relevant teams as part of the Membership and Pricing Review. Supporting services continue to be involved for this project, such as Finance, IT, Technical Finance, Legal, Procurement, Communications, Customer Services, Business Support, HR and Public Health.
7.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 Financial modelling to support the wider membership and pricing review was presented within the Executive Report dated 3 February 2026.
7.2 Current income generated through corporate membership rates is approximately £1.210m per annum, based on the financial modelling and membership base outlined in the Executive Report. Using the same assumptions for the number of users accessing corporate memberships, the new membership structure is forecast to generate approximately £1.280m per annum. This forecast assumes that the existing volume of corporate memberships migrates to the new scheme.
7.3 Proposals arising from the phase two corporate review will be subject to financial modelling at the appropriate stage, to ensure value for money and long‑term sustainability.
8.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
8.1 S19 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 grants discretion for local authorities to provide such recreational facilities as they think fit and the power to charge use of such facilities as the local authority thinks fit.
8.2 The procurement of the Digital Fitness Access and/or Online Healthcare is in accordance with the Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules and, to the extent applicable, the Procurement Act 2023 or the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
9.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
9.1 The proposed membership and pricing review will provide a new consistent approach for all residents across North Yorkshire.
10.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
10.1 There are no direct climate change implications arising from this report.
11.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
11.1 To update members on progress with the implementation of key membership changes planned for September, following Executive approval on 3 February 2026.
11.2 To provide members with the opportunity to feed into the developing proposals for corporate memberships. This includes consideration of the approach to aligning existing corporate offers to a consistent model from September, along with the longer-term ambitions for phase two corporate packages.
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12.0 |
RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Committee:
i) Notes the progress of the ongoing membership and pricing review rollout.
ii) Provides feedback on the proposed new corporate offer scheduled for implementation in September.
iii) Provides feedback on the phase two review of corporate packages, with a view to considering how these may meet the corporate needs of businesses across North Yorkshire. |
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
260203 - Report - ANY Membership - Pricing Review.pdf
Nic Harne
Corporate Director – Community Development
County Hall
Northallerton
Report Author – Ben Walker, Commercial Development Manager (Active North Yorkshire)
Report presenter: David Ashbridge, Head of Operations, Active North Yorkshire
Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.