Mid Devon Leisure fees go up

Low-income & young users hit hardest

The cost for young people and those on low incomes to use leisure centres in Mid Devon are going up by more than for other customers.

Pay-as-you-go swim and exercise fees are among those rising most for both younger and older concessionary users in the district, including people on benefits, in a repeat of last year.

However, Mid Devon District Council said a £15 annual charge that pay-as-you-go users pay on top of session fees had now been scrapped, which could make it cheaper for many.

Some prices have fallen or remained static, and even where charges had risen, the council claims they remain below those of competitors.

New charges for adult concession fitness studio users have risen from £6 to £6.80 (13.3 per cent), well above the 40p rise (five per cent) for standard adult users.

Similarly, the rise in charges for one-hour exercise classes is rising by 10.5 per cent – from £5.70 to £6.30 for concessions, but just 40p (or 5.3 per cent) for regular customers.

Mid Devon Leisure’s website says concessionary fares are offered to people who receive benefits, including universal credit, carers allowance, or job seekers allowance.

With swimming, standard adult and junior swim charges are rising five per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively (from £6 to £6.30 for adults and £3.50 to £3.70 for juniors).

But concessionary charges for those two groups are rising around a fifth: adult concessionary from £4.20 to £5.10 – equivalent to 21.4 per cent – and junior concessions from £2.50 to £3.00 – a 20 per cent hike.

Standard monthly membership is rising by a larger percentage than concessionary and junior equivalents, and the council highlighted that some costs, including for booking the faciliities such as sports hall or football pitch hire, are actually reducing.

The largest rise is for pay-as-you-go junior fitness class concessionary fees, up from £3 to £4.70 (57 per cent), although the previous £15 additonal annual charge no longer applies.

It means a child taking one class a week will now pay £244.40 a year, rather than £177 – a rise of 30 per cent.

A standard junior fee for fitness classes will rise by just over a fifth (21 per cent) from £4.80 to £5.80, and a supervised junior fitness studio concession fee will increase by a quarter (25 per cent) from £3.60 to £4.50.

Resident Nick Quinn raised the issue with Mid Devon District Council, claiming that the authority had pledged to make sure any fee increase above the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation was “fully justified”.

“The September 2024 RPI inflation figure was 2.7 per cent,” he said.

“It is obvious, from a simple examination of the leisure fees and charges now published, that this RPI increase has been surpassed in most cases – with a general rate increase of approximately five per cent.

“A more serious point arising from the published prices is that, despite previous statements and assurances, junior and concession users are being heavily targeted again – with massive increases of between 20 per cent to over 50 per cent, in one instance.

“No justification for the above-inflation increase in these fees and charges, or the targeting of junior and concessionary users, has been made public.”

The increases went before Mid Devon’s cabinet this week, but were only ‘for noting’, meaning they did not have to be approved by the cabinet members at that meeting.

Cllr Josh Wright (Liberal Dmeocrat, Silverton), cabinet member for service delivery and continuous improvement, said some of the larger increases had occurred due to a new measurement the authority uses.

“Leisure fees saw a varying degree of increase across the many activities offered. This is a result of moving to a standardised 20 per cent [concession/junior] discount on the full price for pay-as-you-go fees and a 25 per cent discount for membership fees,” he said.

On junior and concession fees, he said: “It is worth noting that while some fees saw an increase last year, some remained static and this year, the higher increases are against those that saw no increases over the past two years.”

Cllr Wright added that junior concession swimming is 50p cheaper than neighbouring areas, even though it had now risen to £3.

“Membership is currently at its highest ever and the price increases have been well received by customers,” he said.