Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Health fanatic racks up unpaid Fit Life gym bill of £3k

Moray Council has sent out bills totalling almost £33,000 for unpaid leisure centre fees

Moray Council has sent out bills for almost £33k of unpaid  leisure centre membership fees. Image: Moray Council
Moray Council has sent out bills for almost £33k of unpaid leisure centre membership fees. Image: Moray Council

Moray Council has sent out bills totalling almost £33,000 for unpaid leisure centre fees.

And one of the 41 people being invoiced has racked up a debt of nearly £3,000.

The move comes after an internal audit carried out earlier this year found Fit Life cards were being used but direct debits not collected.

£33k unpaid leisure centre fees

Investigations into income and expenditure at Keith sports and community centre discovered the problem.

The cards allow people to access local authority-run gyms and swimming pools as well as Moray Leisure Centre in Elgin.

But software used to process Fit Life bookings did not tie in with the council’s financial management system, which administers direct debits.

And the audit found there were more users processed through the booking system, meaning people were using leisure services but not paying for them.

Elgin North councillor Jérémie Fernandes
Councillor Jérémie Fernandes. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

However that problem has now been resolved.

The amount owed was revealed at a meeting of the education, children and leisure services committee this week.

It follows a written question submitted by Elgin North SNP councillor Jérémie Fernandes.

Mr Fernandes said: “When every penny counts, it’s crucial for Moray Council to avoid avoidable mistakes, such as not invoicing Fit Life members correctly.

Mistake undermining public trust

“These oversights not only impact finances but also risk undermining public trust in our ability to manage resources effectively.

“I’m glad that this issue has now been identified, and it’s encouraging to see steps being taken to correct it.”

The total amount due is £32,621. That figure was accumulated over a five year period.

And the highest total amount owed by a single user is £2,904.

 

Everyone who has been invoiced will have the option to set up a financial plan to manage payments.

Fit life membership for individuals costs £24 per month, and for single adult families the price is £32.

That rises to £34 for families with two adults.

And well as Moray Council facilities, membership also allows entry to those run by Highland, Aberdeen, Argyll & Bute, Orkney, Shetland, Western Isles and Borders councils.

‘It beggars belief’: Anger as it emerges people are using Moray Council leisure centres but not paying

Conversation