Tunbridge Wells Council Forecasts a £525,000 Overspend, and the Leisure Centre Collapse Costs More Than That

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is forecasting that it will spend £525,000 more than planned on running its services this year. All of that, and more, comes down to one thing: the collapse of Fusion Lifestyle, the company that used to run the borough's three leisure centres. Cabinet noted the figures at its meeting on Thursday 24 September.

Fusion Lifestyle entered administration on 1 April 2026, and that hit the council's books in three ways. It had to pay £220,000 towards running the centres until a new operator took over in July. It lost the £389,000 management fee it had budgeted to receive (£448,000 of income from Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre and Weald Sports Centre, less £59,000 it would otherwise have paid out for Putlands Sports and Leisure Centre). And it had to pick up £21,000 of business rates on the centres. Together that is £630,000, more than the £525,000 overspend, which means everything else in the council's budget combined is forecast to come in about £105,000 under.

Some of the rest of the budget is doing better than planned. Staffing is forecast to come in £278,000 under budget because of vacant posts, although £125,000 of that is counted against the vacancy saving the council builds into its budget each year. Off-street parking is forecast £125,000 ahead, £75,000 of it from the reopening of Mount Pleasant car park and £50,000 from extra income at Crescent Road car park. Interest on investments is expected to bring in £200,000 more than budgeted, which the council plans to put into reserves for its capital programme. Against that, the crematorium is forecast to cost £80,000 more in maintenance and lose £50,000 in income.

For now the council assumes the £525,000 will be met from its General Fund. It began the year with £23.4 million of usable reserves, of which £14.6 million was already allocated to specific projects. Cabinet also approved moving £2.001 million out of the Grant Volatility Reserve into the reserve that pays for the capital programme. The report's finance comment is blunt: the strain on the council's finances "will be felt for some time", it says, and the council's ability to finance new commitments is "severely limited".

The overspend is a full-year forecast, not money already gone. In the three months to 30 June the council actually spent £5.414 million on services, £102,000 less than budgeted. Tax collection is mixed. By 30 June the council had collected 28.5% of council tax, ahead of its 27.6% target though 0.11 percentage points behind the same point last year. Business rates stood at 29.67%, slightly behind a 30% target and 2.66 points behind last year's 32.33%.

The report was prepared before the Government paused reorganisation in Kent. It assumes that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council will cease to exist on 1 April 2028, following the Government's 16 July decision to create a single West Kent unitary council, and its reserves planning runs to that date. Since then the Government has paused that plan for review, so the end date is now in question. The new operator arrangements at the leisure centres are covered in our earlier report. Cabinet next meets on 22 October. Sources: Cabinet report, Revenue Management Quarter 1, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Cabinet decisions, 24 September