Angus Alive has plunged into the red by almost a quarter of a million pounds amid reports of rock-bottom morale and staffing crises at some locations.
A report presented to Angus Council’s scrutiny and audit committee showed the arms length external organisation (ALEO) which runs museums and sports centres for Angus Council enjoyed a surplus of £397,000 for the period ending March 31 2017.
When adjustments were taken into account, the trust is £249,000 in deficit.
The news came as two employees of the troubled body contacted The Courier with a number of allegations.
The first said: “For the last 17 months we have been going through a job review, and many are still waiting to hear what decisions have been made regarding their jobs.
“Management have fobbed us off for months, and many staff have walked out or left.
“So many actually, that we are struggling to staff some facilities and even some managers are doing ‘on the floor’ shifts. Some have been told that there is no longer a position available.”
The second employee said: “It’s disgusting the way they have treated staff during this organisational review. Staff morale really is at an all-time low.”
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A spokesperson for Angus Alive said: “The figures in the 2016/17 Angus Alive annual report submitted to Companies House and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in December 2017 do show a final position of a £249,073 deficit for the charity but it is important to note this is only after an actuarial pension adjustment of £646,000 has been applied as required in the externally audited annual accounts.
“Angus Alive is in the middle of an ongoing organisational review, in fulfilment of its mission to inspire healthy, active and creative lifestyle choices.
“This is taking longer than we had hoped but we are following the agreed managing workforce change process and employees have been involved at every step including input through service review groups, information-gathering workshops, ideas lists contributions and via their employee forum.
“The reception roles have been reviewed as part of our Business Support Functions and we met individually with all employees to identify location preferences and minimise impact.
“It should be noted that all permanent reception staff have been offered a similar position in the new structure however in certain areas there were more employees than vacancies.
“Although we have minimised the impact by placing the majority of employees into locations of their preference not every employee was able to be placed according to their first preference.
“The new role of Customer Advisor has been graded one level higher on the salary scale than the current role of Receptionist which has been widely welcomed by our employees.”
Montrose and District SNP Councillor Bill Duff, who sits on the board of Angus Alive, said: “Museums and galleries have free admission, and while charges apply to sports centres, the fact is, under the counci,l these services were never going to break even.
“By moving to the Angus Alive model, £1 million per year has been saved but the organisation remains under pressure financially, especially as the fee paid by the council to Angus Alive is being cut.
“Under these circumstances, things will have to change, and I understand why people are uncomfortable at the length of time this process has taken, but we are almost there now.”
Mr Duff declined to comment on the concerns raised by staff about the management style at Angus Alive but did give his full backing to Chief Executive Kirsty Hunter.
