Agenda item

Report of Head of Community Engagement.

The Assistant Head of Community Engagement (Wellbeing) presented a report to update members on the continuing work in relation to the performance of Salt Ayre Sports Centre.

Members were reminded that the at the meeting of the panel held on 23 October 2012 a number of resolutions had been made in relation to Salt Ayre Sports Centre. A number of these resolutions had been addressed as part of a report presented to the panel on 12 December 2012. The outstanding resolutions covered in this report were as follows:

(1)        That the additional report include financial information regarding the amounts spent on leisure centres by other local authorities in the North West, in order that comparisons might be made with expenditure by Lancaster City Council on Salt Ayre Sports Centre.

(2)        That officers be requested to look at the various headings to consider a reduction of up to 5% (by way of example) with particular emphasis on the management and admin costs in such a way that it does not negatively impact on service provision.

(3)       That information regarding the marketing and advertising of Salt Ayre Sports Centre be included in the report scheduled to be considered by the Panel on 5 March 2013              

The panel were advised that the sports centre was a member of the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) and as such submitted benchmarking data each year for comparison against similar sized facilities. The report set out some of the key indicators for the service and the current performance levels for similar sites. It was advised that although the performance indicators were useful in terms of analysing trends over a period of time, no two centres were exactly alike, and caution should be taken when using the figures as exact comparators. Members discussed the performance indicators in detail.

Members noted that there were a large number of performance indicators in which the sports centre was in the third or fourth quartile when compared to similar sites. The Assistant Head of Community Engagement (Wellbeing) advised that more recent data suggested that as the sports centre had achieved an increased level of income a number of the performance indicators would now put the sports centre in the top one or two quartiles when compared to similar sites.

The Assistant Head of Community Engagement (Wellbeing) informed members that the review of the sports centre was ongoing, and that a number of project groups had been established to look at various areas. The panel agreed that further reports should be requested in order to update members on progress made. The Head of Community Engagement advised that the review of the sports centre was expected to be completed by September 2013, and that interim reports regarding progress could be provided to the panel if necessary.

Members were advised that the Active Health programme, which had been discussed at the meeting of the panel held on 11 December 2012, had been awarded a further £90,000 of funding to continue with the scheme for the coming financial year.

Resolved:

(1)        That the report be noted.

(2)        That a further report be presented to the panel once the review is completed, which it is noted is anticipated to be September 2013.