- By Brendan Hughes
- BBC News NI political reporter
Image supply, Paul Moane, Aurora PA
The operator of Belfast’s leisure centres has apologised after lots of of individuals had been wrongly charged for child low cost cards.
Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) runs greater than a dozen services underneath the Better model for Belfast City Council.
It stated 450 individuals in the previous 12 months had been charged about £5.75 every for the cards, which had been speculated to be supplied free, as a consequence of an “IT error”.
GLL stated it’s working by its database to situation refunds.
The Junior Pay and Play Card permits youngsters dwelling in Belfast to entry reductions of as much as 30% off leisure actions, together with swimming, junior gymnasium periods, soccer, badminton and tennis.
The cards had been speculated to be supplied freed from cost underneath the scheme, which was launched in 2021.
Image supply, Getty Images
A spokesman for GLL stated it was “alerted to the situation of children being erroneously charged £5.75” for the cards.
“Following an internal investigation, we have confirmed this was due to an IT error which has now been rectified,” he added.
“We take full responsibility for this error and are now working through our database to ensure that the accounts of every user charged will be credited with that amount.”
GLL hopes all these affected can have their accounts credited “by the end of the month”.
“We are sorry for the confusion and inconvenience this may have caused,” the spokesman added.
‘Very disappointing’
SDLP councillor Gary McKeown, who alerted officers to the error, described it as “very disappointing”.
“This means that during a cost-of-living crisis, many households have been left with the choice of paying for a Junior Pay and Play Card or paying full price for children to enjoy sporting activities,” he stated.
“This is a choice they shouldn’t have had to make.”
He stated he was happy the system has been up to date, however added: “What we will never know is how many people didn’t avail of the card because they were going to be charged for it.”
Belfast City Council referred questions requested by BBC News NI to GLL.