Issue - meetings

To receive an update on progress with the Strategic Leisure Review and proposed approach in advance of a formal public consultation in late 2023.

The committee considered the report which provided an update on the progress of the implementation of the Strategic Leisure Review following the approval of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy 2023-27 (MTFS) at Full Council on 22 February 2023.

Cllr Clowes attended the meeting as a visiting member. Cllr Clowes highlighted that all centres identified for potential closure were aligned with school academies and asked, with regard to legislation pertaining to academies, whether the Council was at risk of legal challenge. Cllr Clowes stated that there were no alternative options appraisals to consult on, there was a need for better understanding of capacity to fulfil the Council’s statutory duties in relation to primary school swimming at alternative sites before going out to consultation and that there would be an impact on loss of classroom time and increased costs of transport for schools. Cllr Clowes asked what data had been sought from Swim England to inform the process going forward. Cllr Clowes also asked where the fiscal analysis was to support the proposal that removing four centres would not destabilise the fiscal viability of Everybody Health and Leisure (EHL). The contract would expire in 2029 but Cllr Clowes felt that any attempt to attract outside capital would be increasingly compromised by not thinking beyond the MTFS period.

In response, officers gave assurances that the report had been reviewed by the Council’s Legal services. Swim England would be consulted as part of the consultation process. With regard to the commercial position of EHL, it was noted that the Council had been working with EHL who had provided usage data. There had been no specific issues around ongoing viability raised by EHL to the Council’s leisure commissioning team through the discussions which had been ongoing for several months.

Cllr Anderson attended the meeting as a visiting member and Trustee of Everybody Health and Leisure. Cllr Anderson raised a number of concerns including the impact on employment at EHL, the decommissioning costs, the impact on waiting lists if the number of swimming pools were reduced, the data not including groups. Cllr Anderson advised that EHL were committed to working with Cheshire East to find a mutually agreeable way forward.

Cllr Kolker spoke as a visiting member and Trustee of Everybody Health and Leisure. Cllr Kolker understood the financial pressures on the Council but did not support the approach outlined in the report and was concerned about the sites being joint use and impacting schools. Cllr Kolker stated that school usage figures needed to be included in the analysis to get a true indication of centre usage. There were currently 10,700 children on learn to swim schemes with a waiting list of 3000 and Cllr Kolker stated that the same level of service could not be provided with two fewer schools.

Cllr Coan spoke as a visiting member and stated that he had received extensive correspondence from residents. There was no public transport from Knutsford to Wilmslow in the morning or evening. There was currently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 112