South Ayrshire Council inherited the current scheme for letting of school premises from Strathclyde Regional Council, a scheme that has remained almost unchanged since the late seventies.

There has been only one increase in school letting charges since the Council in South Ayrshire took over the system from Strathclyde Regional Council. This was only one inflation linked increase of 2.95%.

At a meeting of the Council’s Lifelong Learning Committee members decided to carry out further investigations to examine ways in which the system could be brought up to date.  A report of the findings will be brought to a future Lifelong Learning Committee for the consideration of members.

In South Ayrshire school premises are regularly let to voluntary organisations, community groups and youth organisations.  Since the current letting scheme was inherited from Strathclyde Regional Council increased in charges for letting have been minimal. 

In the last financial year the Education, Culture and Lifelong Learning department processed 16,000 lets, with over 70% of these providing services for participants under 18 years of age.

The letting scheme is underpinned by a number of key principles:

• The Council is committed to developing and sustaining community capacity
  throughout South Ayrshire and in particular within the designated regeneration area.
• The Council is committed to ensuring that its corporate priorities are addressed through an efficient and effective use of its own premises.
• The letting system should be simple and accessible to the public and take account of the requirements being placed on the Council to develop Information and Communication Technology as a means of accessing services through the e-government initiative.
• Generation of income is balanced with consideration of a group or
  individual’s ability to pay and the nature of the let.
• The scheme relies on accommodation being made available for use by
  voluntary organisations, community groups and youth organisations, and in particular those organisations that contribute to the Council’s corporate priorities.
• The Council reserves the right to request evidence from organisations of their voluntary status in the form of constitutions, bank statements and list of office bearers.
• Consideration is given to those rural locations where the school provides the sole community facility.

May 2006