Agenda item

To receive the final report of the Leisure Centre Contract Management Review Sub-Committee (to follow).

The Committee received a presentation from Councillors Richard Seabourne and Wyatt Ramsdale on a summary of the scrutiny work that was undertaken by the Leisure Centre Contract Management Sub-Committee which had been established in November. The presentation picked out some of the key points of the activities carried out between December and early June by the Sub-Committee the detailed report and the recommendations for consideration were detailed in the agenda.

The Committee was advised that the Management contract was signed with DC Leisure in 2007 for a period of 15years. DC Leisure was then acquired by Places for People (PfP) in 2012. In return for managing Waverley’s 5 leisure centres PfP paid Waverley a management fee and had entered into a profit sharing arrangement with Waverley. The review was undertaken because the contract was longstanding, the Council’s Leisure Centres would continue to need capital investment and the perceived success of Waverley’s contract with PfP made it probable that important lessons could be applied to other major Council contracts.

The Committee was advised that the review had found that there was a healthy collaborative relationship Waverley v PfP There was signs of continuous improvement. Attendance had increased and there was no potential cost savings identified. The Sub-Committee had asked the question about whether not in a time of financial shortage they should be maximising financial gain in order to protect other services.

The Councillors outlined potential opportunities for improvement. The Sub-Committee had found difficulty in identifying the commercial and wellbeing expectations to which PfP was expected to perform. Consequently it was recommended as a matter of urgency that the Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Culture and the Head of Communities and Special Projects developed a clear policy setting out the Council’s priorities for leisure centres in Waverley. Further, the Sub-Committee found it difficult to readily access summary management accounting information to show if the Leisure Centres were delivering a surplus to Waverley’s residents or if they required subsidy. Consequently, it was recommended that continuous assessment of financial value for money was carried out by comparing revenue generated for Waverley by PfP with Waverley’s internal operating costs. A specific budget monitoring template for leisure centres should also be created to improve financial and commercial management and analysis. 

Other recommendations were as follows:

·         Waverley’s Finance team should start collecting good practice procedures by management accountants and, in particular, the specific procedures used by the current management accountant for Leisure, in order to provide quality information for a hand-over and back-up if the post holder was not available. In time best practice should be captured in a financial management manual.

·         Waverley should include risk thresholds in monthly accounts for the Borough’s leisure centres and these should be frequently reviewed.

·         To understand the performance of the Council’s leisure centres better it was recommended that the Council established a performance sharing network with similar neighbouring authorities to share key delivery metrics to help drive financial and service improvement.

The Sub-Committee noted further recommendations for other waverley services which included:

·         The contract arrangements between the Council and Places for People (PfP) should be highlighted as a success and used as an example of good practice for other services in the Council that deliver large scale functions through contractors, specifically  

o        highlighting the importance of the in-house experience / skills of the contract management team in delivering a service through a contract;

o        noting the promotion of a partnership ethos with the contractor based on a shared commitment to excellence and effective risk allocation;

o        noting the promotion of openness and trust and a shared and collaborative way to problem solving; and

o        noting that both client and contractor structured the contract to promote innovation, flexibility and adaptation where necessary.

·         Service teams should investigate and implement the use of industry leading management tools, similar to Quest, across third party contracts.

The Committee thanked the Sub-Committee for its hard work in putting together a detailed review and endorsed the recommendations in the report being taken forward to the Executive for it to consider.

RESOLVED that the report be endorsed and the recommendations contained there in.