Live Borders stand-in boss reveals staff left 'demoralised' by plans for service shake-up

Controversial plans for a major shake up of cultural, sport and leisure services in the Scottish Borders have left staff in some of the region's museums, libraries and swimming pools “demoralised”.

That’s according to Live Borders interim chief executive Jill Franks, who revealed not all employees picked up an email sent on Easter Friday, warning them their jobs are under review.

An independent consultants report, published on Sunday, is proposing wide-ranging closures of public buildings in a bid to keep the leisure operator afloat - and save between £2.5 million and £3 million a year.

It's estimated the changes being proposed would result in the loss of more than 50 jobs.

READ MORE: 'The bottom line is the council, financially, cannot afford to keep propping-up Live Borders - this is detrimental to the already struggling council services'

Ms Franks told councillors this morning: "As you can expect, the staff are fairly demoralised at the moment. Communication was deliberately planned to go out in advance of the publication of the reports more widely; having said that, not everybody would have been looking at their email depending on their position, so it did come as a shock."

But she added: "We have been reassuring staff this week and will continue to do so, and we'll put in place a structured plan for physically meeting with them over the coming weeks and indeed months, as this is not going to be a quick process."

Scottish Borders Council has today (Thursday) agreed to note the report and request a transformation plan, which can then go out to the public for consultation.

As well as progressing with the recruitment of a new chief executive and leadership team at Live Borders, that's also expected to look at things like changes to some of the trust's pricing models - expect charges to go up; where it can share services; and cutting staff to match demand - as is being proposed in many of its leisure centres.

But local authority leader Euan Jardine has reiterated no decisions will be made until communities have been consulted. He said: "Nobody knows our communities better than those living in them. It's really important that we get this right.

"We aren't the only region in Scotland going through this process. For me it's not just about the facilities, it's about the services - how can we modernise or move them elsewhere? This is the start of the conversation, it's not the end of it."

The meeting heard the process could take up to five years to complete.

Petitions have already been launched to save Selkirk Leisure Centre and Newtown Community Wing - two of more than 30 properties identified for closure in the report.

Berwickshire councillor Donald Moffat told Greatest Hits Radio: "I think there will be some things that can be improved. The actual Live Borders board is going to have to make the decisions and then, after that, it will come back to the council to rubber-stamp whatever they come up with.

"But I think there are lessons to be learned from the fact Live Borders haven't done what they were meant to do when they were set-up.

"The idea was that (transferring facilities from council control to a trust would mean) they would not pay rates, which would save millions of pounds a year for them. And, on top of that, they were meant to get money from other sources, like wind farms or charitable trusts and whatever - but they've never done that.

"The pool in Duns has, and it's proved to be the best run pool in the Borders."

Nevertheless, he added: "I dont think all these proposals will go ahead, i think some of them will. I'm surprised there are some things not in there that cost a lot of money but, at the end of the day, it's not all about money it's about trying to get the balance right.

"We have to get the budget right too, so there will be things that will possibly close, or be run differently. But, at the end of the day, there could be improvements, because if you look at the Duns swimming pool and how it has brought in money from elsewhere, it proves it can be done if it's done properly."

It's claimed the review could result in investment in better facilities, with extra cash freed up to develop the Gytes Leisure Centre in Peebles, Teviotdale Leisure Centre in Hawick and the sports complex at Tweedbank.

SBC chief executive David Robertson said: "What we're trying to do is to make sure that we have a Live Borders estate which meets the needs of the people of the Borders, that is of the best possible quality going forward.

"And a lot of what we're looking at as well is not just about potential closures, but it's also about significant investment in these facilities to make sure they're not just adequate or mediocre, but they are actually first class facilities."

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