TRANSFERRING Ceredigion’s leisure services to independent trusts could be a “challenge” in keeping services sustainable, a council report has claimed.

The council is currently considering the future of the county’s leisure services after going out to consultation about how services should be provided.

But after a Wales Audit Office report into how councils were coping with providing leisure services with reduced funding, council officers have warned that asking a trust to take over services could leave the council liable for any financial problems the trust faces.

Ceredigion County Council currently spends the least on leisure services of any local authority in Wales, but has earmarked savings from the leisure services budget to help with the funding crisis the authority is facing after further funding cuts from the Welsh Government.

Other Welsh councils have found savings through getting a trust to take over services while still retaining facilities, but a report to the authority’s healthier communities scrutiny committee warned that may not be the best solution for Ceredigion.

It says: “Trust options which are very much promoted by Welsh Government have been considered in Ceredigion. However, at present they have not been the preferred option due to the configuration of provision within the county."

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