SUBSIDY payments averaging £467,000 per year have been made to the company operating the AquaSplash facility in town, the government has confirmed.
Answering a written question from Deputy Raluca Kovacs, Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet outlined payments of just over £5.6 million to Serco since 2010, the year after administrative responsibility for the leisure pool was transferred to the Education Department.
Deputy Binet said that between 2010 and 2021 inclusive, the annual subsidy varied between £393,000 and £583,000, with an average of £467,300. The 2022 figure would be included within the annual report and accounts to be published later this year, he added.
The minister said that the total subsidy each year included a management fee, with the payment varying due to the annual deficit incurred by Serco. This deficit was largest in 2020, the year of the Covid-19 lockdown, resulting in a payment of £583,000 – the only year since 2010 where the figure was greater than £500,000.
Deputy Kovacs also asked about the new contract for the operation of the AquaSplash facility, which is due to come into place in July, following the expiry of the original 20-year contract agreed with Serco in 2003.
Deputy Binet said that the future contract was still being negotiated, which left him unable to present final figures.
The Government Plan for 2023-26 includes an annual allocation of £300,000 towards the leisure pool, which has served as the primary swimming facility for St Helier and the east of the Island since the government took the decision to close the pool at Fort Regent in 2004.
