Agenda item

Guy Kilminster, Head of Health & Wellbeing to provide a presentation on the Leisure Review.

Guy Kilminster Head of Wellbeing attended the meeting and updated members on a review of Leisure Services currently being carried out by a Cabinet Sub Committee.

The review had been initiated because the original two unitary Councils had stated in their business case that a saving of £1,000,000 could be generated across Cheshire East through delivering leisure in a different way.

The sub-committee had agreed to the appointment of consultants (PMPGenesis) to review the performance of the inherited facilities and to consider alternative options for the future delivery of the service.

The report concluded that the performance of leisure services was mixed with some performing strongly and others not so well (to be expected with the merging of three District’s Services). Income was deemed to be good compared to market averages, and with the exception of two facilities, staff costs were below average with the service described as lean in terms of staff costs to income. The percentage cost recovery was good at about half the facilities.  The poorer performing facilities were those that the predecessor authorities had already identified as being in need of replacement or significant refurbishment. 

The presentation also covered the new opportunities available and the links between the leisure review and the Transformation programme generally

In particular, Leisure Services would need to demonstrate how it would meet the transformational outcomes which were set out in the Budget Report to Full Council on 25^th February 2010.  Those outcomes were that transformed services should be more:-

·        Local – Services more fully based out in localities and, where appropriate, owned in those localities so that they are more easily accessible and more readily responsive to local people.

·        Joined Up – Services more extensively co-located with those of partners, and based out in non-Council settings locally.

·        Sustainable – a smaller set of Services, built around the Council’s core businesses and affordable with the resources likely to be available.

·        Focused on outcomes – a more tightly focused set of Services, directed towards achieving agreed objectives and outcomes.

·        Preventive – Services which give much higher priority to prevention.

·        Innovative – Services which encourage their staff to use their experience, intelligence and creativity to solve problems and to improve the experience of those who use the Services.

·        High Quality – a set of Services committed to enhancing quality.

            Much improvement was already underway and new ways of working had been introduced.  These included:

• Introducing the free swimming scheme;
• Reviewing capital investment needs and improving customer experience through swim free capital monies and DDA monies for example at Crewe Pool, Wilmslow and Nantwich;
• Improvements being been made at Shavington (interactive equipment installed) and Sandbach (new gym);
• Working with Children and Families to ensure the service was fully engaged in the Building Schools for the Future discussions;
• Working with Sport England to complete the Facility Improvement process;
• Working with Performance and Policy to initiate the needs assessment to determine Cheshire East residents requirements in relation to leisure;
• Identifying and progressing opportunities to initiate physical activity with targeted communities in non leisure centre venues (e.g. Sure Start centres);
• Engaged in discussions around local service delivery and devolution and considering with regard to playing pitches and pavilions for example;
• Discussing opportunities with the PCT to introduce exercise on prescription scheme across the Authority;
• Also discussing with the PCT engagement in ‘care pathways’ to help ensure the Service was part of the preventative activity to keep people in good health;
• Discussing the Service’s role in re-ablement and personalisation with Adult Social Care to identify opportunities for the Service to be commissioned to deliver services for their client groups;
• Engaging consultants to review the management options for the Council’s two golf courses;
• Developing a new culture within the Service that was customer focused

In response to questions from members of the Committee, the Head of Wellbeing informed the Committee that the Council needed to make better use of its facilities by for instance, taking leisure facilities into the community.

The current review did not cover assets such as football pitches. However,an asset challenge process was currently underway across the Council which was looking at, amongst other things, the cost of inherited facilities, such as Crewe and Congleton Leisure centres .It had been estimated that it would cost more to maintain these facilities over the next 5 years than to replace them with new facilities

RERSOLVED –

(a)               That the presentation be noted.

(b)               That the Head of Wellbeing in conjunction with the Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder, be requested to issue a press release based upon the presentation given at the meeting.