Decision details

To approve that Brimhams Active Limited should enter into a Deed of Termination to terminate the leisure operating agreement with the Council

To authorise the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal & Democratic Services) to agree to the final version of the Deed of Termination

Brimhams Active Limited is a wholly owned company of the Council and has been set up using the “teckal” exemption. Brimhams entered into a contract with Harrogate Borough Council in July 2021 for the operation of leisure services within the borough of Harrogate. The contract automatically transferred to the Council on 1 April 2023 as part of local government re-organisation. In January 2024, the Executive resolved that all of the Council’s leisure services would transfer to a single in-house model. In order to bring the leisure services in the former borough of Harrogate in-house, the contract with Brimhams is required to be terminated. There is a power within the contract for the Council to terminate by providing written notice that expires on 31 March of any year. Therefore, in order to transfer the leisure services with effect from 1 December 2024, a mutually agreed Deed of Termination is required to be entered into.

The following options were considered and rejected:

1. To wait until 31 March 2025 before terminating the Agreement. This option was rejected as it was considered the Council has made the decision in January 2024 to bring the service back in house and there are no practical benefits in continuing with the Agreement until 31 March 2025. It was considered that an earlier transfer will facilitate the existing shared management arrangements and ensure stability for Brimhams’ staff and customers.