Nottingham City Council could transform the way its sport and leisure services are managed as part of a major review into how it delivers community health and wellbeing across the city.
The proposals, which will be discussed by the People, Communities and Environment Scrutiny Committee on 5 November 2025, form part of the council’s wider transformation and improvement programme. They aim to ensure the long-term sustainability of leisure services while maintaining access for residents and reducing the financial burden on the authority.
The service currently operates six leisure centres across Nottingham, recording more than 2.3 million attendances in 2024/25 – a 7.5 per cent increase on the previous year. Despite ongoing financial pressures, it has delivered over £2.5 million in savings since 2021 and is estimated to have generated £6.9 million in social value benefits. Those benefits include improvements in public health outcomes through partnerships with NHS services, Primary Care Networks and social prescribers who refer residents to fitness and wellbeing programmes.
As part of the review, independent consultants FMG Consulting were commissioned to explore several options for how the service could operate in future. The study focused on financial sustainability, operational efficiency, and reducing the level of council subsidy, which has been a long-term challenge for local authorities nationally as budgets tighten.
The preferred way forward identified in the report is an enhanced ‘In-House Plus’ model. This approach would keep the leisure centres under council ownership and control but give the service greater freedom in key areas such as energy management, marketing and procurement. The model builds on existing partnerships and operational strengths and is expected to deliver substantial annual savings while supporting the council’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2028.
The review comes after years of significant change for Nottingham’s leisure sector. Over the past decade, many local authorities have shifted to arm’s-length management organisations, charitable trusts or private partnerships to manage leisure facilities. Nottingham City Council has so far retained a direct in-house model, but the report suggests that additional flexibility and commercial focus will now be required to protect the service’s future.
The transformation aligns with the council’s wider “Renewed Council” mission, which prioritises good governance, financial stewardship and innovation. It also contributes to the authority’s goals of improving residents’ health, revitalising the economy, and enhancing sustainability and connectivity across the city.
The Scrutiny Committee will be invited to comment on the proposed changes and consider whether further examination of the plans is needed before final decisions are made by the Executive Board later in the year.
