The Villa Marina, Gaiety Theatre, NSC and island swimming pools are £1m over budget for the year to the end of January.

Figures released by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture, shows that the department’s taxpayer-funded leisure facilities are bleeding money as the NSC slide debacle continues and the Villa Gaiety complex continues with financial troubles that have blighted it for a number of years.

The figures were requested by Onchan MHK Julie Edge in a Tynwald question to DESC Minister Graham Cregeen.

Sport and recreation, which includes the NSC, is £635,000 (21%) over budget for the year to January 2020 with £451,000 of that down to the NSC. £170,000 relates to swimming pool deficiencies while ’satellite areas’ around the island are £33,000 over.

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However, sports development actually came in £19,000 under budget.

The overspend does not include the NSC cafe, which was £138,000 over budget.

That falls under the school meals service, which was £96,000 over budget. However, DESC said this is ’wholly as a result’ of the cafe and that the school meals element of those accounts ’is in a favourable financial position’.

A comment from DESC at the start of the financial report accepts the position of the NSC budget and says the majority is as a result of the extended closure of the ’wet side’ and more recently the leisure pool.

It also confirmed that the closure would continue until at least May and that the centre will overspend by £400,000.

The Villa Gaiety was £444,000 (78%) over budget for the year to January, the majority of which - £303,000 - was an overspend on entertainment.

Its income was also £358,000 less than expected.

The bars at the two venues were also over budget by a further £148,000 while ’in-house operations’ were £41,000 recorded as over.

The Colonnade Arcade and Gardens were £8,000 over budget while Soundcheck, a music project that promotes young musicians, overspent by £5,000.

However, central technical services came in £41,000 under budget, as did administration (£11,000), Youth Arts Centre (£7,000) and the Friends of the Gaiety and Heritage raised £3,000.

The overspend at the Villa Gaiety clearly concerns DESC. In the notes at the start of its finances it states: ’We are working with VMGT to determine what action is required to significantly reduce the level of overspend.’

It added: ’It must be acknowledged that the facility has, for a number of years, experienced financial challenges, some of the senior management team are only recently in post and it may take time to implement necessary changes, however, work is continuing.’

The figures also revealed that five primary schools are over budget: Henry Bloom Noble, Douglas (£23,000); Foxdale (£4,000); Onchan (£6,000); Peel Clothworkers (£5,000); and Bunscoill Ghaelgagh (£19,000).

Henry Bloom Noble’s overspend is the result of ’outstanding staff supply reclaims’ according to the DESC, while Bunscoill Ghaelgagh’s is ’as a result of timing issue in relation to the spring term grant payment’.

Overspends at Foxdale, Onchan and Peel are also as a result of staffing costs.

Only Ramsey Grammar School is showing as being over budget for a high school with its variant to January, showing an overspend of £149,000.

When public sector operations such as the NSC, the Villa Gaiety complex and schools go over budget, the taxpayer usually foots the bill.