Brentwood Borough Council wrote off almost £350,000 after the closure of the Brentwood Centre. 

The Pilgrims Hatch centre was shut in 2020 after the council rejected a deal to keep its operator, Brentwood Leisure Trust, solvent. 

The £343,000 it owed was subsequently removed from the council’s 2020/2021 accounts. 

The council eventually appointed Everyone Active to manage the centre in October 2021. 

Cllr Gareth Barrett (Lab, Brentwood South) said at an audit and scrutiny committee meeting on November 15 the issues the centre faced were “not an example of any one behaving badly at one point or inappropriately, but it is the collective missing of moments and gaps and things not being at the quality of where they should have been”. 

The finances of the centre had been a significant challenge, especially following the outbreak of Covid.  

A grant of £117,000 was received from the national leisure recovery fund, which was used to offset the running of the centre, as well as income losses due to lockdowns and restrictions. 

The council has now moved recommendations relating to the council's ongoing management.

They state: “The council should continue with the positive progress made in making sure that record keeping, and governance of partnership/contractual arrangements, are robust and transparent and regular reports are made to the appropriate committee.” 

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