A row has broken out over loans provided to leisure centre operators in Cornwall to help them through the covid lockdown.

Cornwall Council has provided loans to GLL – which operates leisure centres as part of a contract with the council – totalling £3.4 million.

At a meeting of the council's customer and support services overview and scrutiny committee councillors took the opportunity to quiz Cabinet member Mike Eathorne-Gibbons about the status of those loans.

Labour councillor Jayne Kirkham asked Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons whether the loans would be repaid, what would happen should GLL go into administration and if any security had been provided for the loans.

The Cabinet member responded saying:

"It is intended that the loans and grants will be repaid."

However, this was picked up by Conservative councillor David Harris who said that a report going to the Cabinet this morning contradicted Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons' response.

Cllr Harris highlighted that in a council performance report it states of the £3.4m loan that "it is considered that there will be a need for a majority of this to be provided for in a bad debt provision."

In reply Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons said he "noted" what Cllr Harris had said.

However, a clearly angry Cllr Harris said:

"There is a difference in giving an answer to Cllr Kirkham which is directly opposed to what is in the papers to Cabinet tomorrow. Unless what you said was wrong."

Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons said that it was his "understanding" that the loans would be repaid.

To which Cllr Harris said:

"You are a Cabinet member, have you not read the reports? I am not a Cabinet member and I have read them, why can't you read them?"

The Cabinet member said that he did read the reports and said there was nothing more to say on the matter.

Cllr Harris said it was "unbelievable".

The committee also heard that the council is continuing a strategic review of leisure centre provision and what should happen going forward.

Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons said that the review had been delayed due to Covid-19 but said that he hoped a report would be available in the autumn.

Cllr Kirkham asked whether all options would be considered including allowing the leisure centres to be run by a charity, community interest company or even taken back in-house at the council.

In reply, Cllr Eathorne-Gibbons said that all options would be considered as part of the review saying that it had to be a "comprehensive approach."

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