Liverpool City Council has outlined a £20 million funding drive that will deliver improvements to Lifestyles fitness centres, park and play areas and the roll-out of communal bin ‘hubs’.

The plan also includes a ‘radical’ £7m programme to tackle homelessness by bringing hundreds of empty homes back into use, which would save the council almost double that figure in reducing temporary accommodation costs.

The Cabinet meeting on Tuesday (16 September) is being asked to approve funding for a number of priority projects as part of the council’s capital programme.

An initial £5.18m will be invested to begin the modernisation of Lifestyles leisure centres, including new gym equipment, refreshed reception areas, upgrades to disused 3G pitches, and the creation of adventure activities. This will form the first phase of a wider improvement programme, with up to £30m planned by 2032, including the development of new youth hubs.

To alleviate the homelessness crisis, £7.3m of grants will be made available to private sector landlords to encourage them to bring 365 properties back into use. It is estimated it will save £13.3m in reduced temporary accommodation costs. A further £310k will be used to create a customer services hub to rapidly assess homeless households, staffed by a newly formed Housing Solutions Service. The aim is to cut delays and improve decision-making of the 10,000 referrals received annually, which will reduce unnecessary placements in temporary accommodation.

A total of £4.75m will also be spent to begin the upgrading of 23 play areas and improving a number of parks with new benches, litter bins and the resurfacing of pathways.

And £2.2m will be used for the roll-out of communal bins ‘hubs’ over the next three years in areas with a high density of terraced housing to help drive up recycling rates and meet the requirement to collect food waste from 2026. They are based on a scheme in Glasgow which has helped proved popular with residents and reduces flytipping.

The other projects include:

• £1.5m to improve street lighting in the area surrounding Everton FC’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium
• £213k for the installation of new public computers and self-service kiosks in libraries
• £116k for equipment to expand the roll-out of face-to-face access to council services in libraries

The projects will be funded through the council’s capital programme of investment in infrastructure.

Cllr Ruth Bennett, deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance, resources and transformation, says: “We are determined to improve life for residents in communities across Liverpool by making our city cleaner and greener and improving the buildings that we deliver services from.

“We have spent the last couple of years putting the council on a much firmer financial footing and as a result we are now able to commit to making investments in services that we know our residents really value and care about.

“We know that having things such as decent leisure facilities, play areas and parks, as well as clean streets, alleyways and properties that are not in a state of disrepair make a real difference to everyday life.

“This is about making sure that people feel they are getting value-for-money from their Council Tax and the money we are spending is used in their neighbourhood.”

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