Sheffield City Council, Sports and Leisure Management Ltd

  • This report relates to a proposed subsidy of up to £14.5 million given over 15 years in order to support the operation of 13 council owned health, leisure and wellbeing facilities in Sheffield from January 2025 to March 2040.
  • Our key takeaways from the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) report are:
    • The Council’s assessment is atypical in focusing on addressing an equity objective rather than a market failure (that is not to say that this atypicality is “wrong”, only that market failure cases are more common). The Council was commended for clearly describing and evidencing the equity objective.
    • Assessments should clearly explain and explicitly cite how evidence submitted alongside it supports its key findings and conclusions, particularly in relation to the counterfactual and proportionality of the proposed subsidy.
    • Assessments should provide detail as to how any monitoring and clawback mechanisms work in practice.
    • Assessments should demonstrate clear reasoning when considering and evidencing the effect of the proposed subsidy on competition and investment.

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Posted in Subsidy Advice Report Tracker.