Issue - meetings

(Paragraph 6 – information relating to proposed action to be taken by the Local Authority)

Purpose: the paper seeks Executive approval to award the Leisure Management Contract.

(Paragraph 6 – information relating to proposed action to be taken by the Local Authority)

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 20), which sought approval to award the Leisure Management Contract.

RESOLVED that: the recommendations in the exempt report be agreed.

Other options considered:

·         Extension with the incumbent operator Parkwood Leisure – the current contract has been extended to the maximum allowed under the current terms.

·         Officers utilised the Sport England facilities planning model tool to determine if the scale and location of West Berkshire’s leisure centres were appropriate for the existing population and projected population growth up to 2036. The outcome of this was that the existing leisure centres are appropriately located to serve the needs of the population and the scale of provision was also appropriate. However the age of the existing stock was highlighted as an issue which could affect future demand. The planned capital investments are designed to help alleviate this issue. In the future the report advised that rationalising the service could provide benefits with the opening of a new leisure centre which could cover the catchment area of more than one of West Berkshire’s existing centres. The issue of identifying a location for a new leisure centre is highlighted for future consideration in the leisure strategy 2022-32.

·         Closure of services – leisure centres are community hubs and participants utilise the services for social and health reasons. For older people, the social aspect is often of particular value and this was highlighted in the public consultation underpinning the leisure strategy. Additionally, leisure centres are homes for local sports clubs and the only venues where schools can meet their curriculum obligations to teach children to swim 25 metres and Key Stage 2. Any closure should be considered in the context of an Equality Impact Assessment.

·         Bring service back in house – this would require a major restructure of the leisure team and result in a considerable increase in costs for core services such as HR, Payroll, ICT as more than c200 staff would be joining the Council.