Nick Chaffey, Southampton Socialist Party
For over 20 years, local campaigners and members of the Socialist Party have fought to keep St Mary’s Leisure Centre (SMLC) open. Once again it is under threat. First the Lib Dems, then the Tories, and now Labour.
The latest proposals are to hand the centre over to a third party. Labour’s warm words of reassurance are: “We appreciate the importance of the venue to communities and aim to complement existing activities with a varied programme of activities and usage.”
Given the local council’s historic desire to shut down SMLC, wouldn’t a third party be a way forward? However, what guarantees does a third party offer to deliver services, let alone survive in the current climate of economic stagnation?
There is a vital need to ensure access to low-cost and free sport, leisure and health activities for all. But under capitalism, all these things come at a cost. Fine if you have the money to join a private club, but what if you don’t?
Inner-city Southampton is one of the most deprived areas in the south of England. Life expectancy is now ten years less than the wealthiest parts of the city, the result of 15 years of austerity, cuts to pay, pensions, benefits and public services.
And under a Labour government it’s getting worse! Our communities are having to choose whether to eat, heat or pay council tax to avoid a visit from the bailiff. How are families going to afford to access SMLC run by a third party free to raise charges and further exclude the needs of the local community?
In its prime, by no means perfect, SMLC hosted free Saturday sports clubs for young people, midnight football for local youth, GP referrals to help health recovery, and a myriad of local sports clubs. Much more was needed but how can we be certain that a third party will succeed?
Since the Labour council was elected in 2012 it has carried out cuts and proposes to do a further £46 million this year. Other successful services, such as the council-run youth services, were handed over to third-party providers and rapidly closed, with the land sold off to profit-hungry housing developers.
Where will the funding come from to run SMLC? What guarantees are there that the money will be found? Who will decide how much staff are paid in wages, or their pension, sick pay and holiday terms? The Tories privatised Southampton Leisure services in 2010, resulting in cuts to staff, pay, and terms and conditions. When facilities needed urgent repair, who got the bill? The council!
We demand a real future for SMLC, fully funded by the council, staffed by well-paid council workers and run with the direct democratic involvement of the local community. This should be part of a mass campaign to rebuild city services by restoring the £500 million council funding cut by the government since 2010.
We are fed up of excuses from failed Labour councillors and MPs. If you’re not prepared to fight step aside for those who will.
Nadia Ditta, Socialist Party member, stood in Bevois ward where the centre is, for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in 2024, getting 848 votes, 32%, showing the appetite for a fightback against austerity in working-class communities. The strikes of 2022-23 showed the trade unions have the power to win. A combined campaign of working-class communities and council unions can force concessions from the council and government.
The money is there. Southampton council has reserves and borrowing powers that could be used to set a no-cuts, people’s budget in February. We are determined to secure the future of SMLC and appeal to everyone to back our campaign for a council-run, fully funded sports and leisure centre.
