Agenda item

With the consent of the Chair, the Annual Leisure Contract Performance report was moved up to agenda item 7, however the minutes are written in the order of the original agenda.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing introduced the report to the Committee, which detailed the 6^th year of the 15-year leisure contract with Everyone Active. She said that 2024 contained a lot of positives, including in excess of 1.6 million visits to the leisure facilities.

The Executive Member for Wellbeing reflected on the loss of funding for Leventhorpe and Fanshawe resulting in the closure of these facilities, despite huge efforts within the community to keep them open. She said that alternative solutions at Fanshawe continued to be explored, but the ability for many of the users of these closed facilities to transfer to alternative centres within the district was positive. 

The Executive Member for Wellbeing highlighted the wider work which had been carried out over the period, including the relaunch of the exercise on referral scheme, and the introduction of dedicated senior and wellbeing programmes.

The Chair thanked the Executive Member for Wellbeing for her report.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager and the General Manager of Grange Paddocks gave a presentation to the Committee, which gave an overview of the 2024 year.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services said that the numbers within the report and presentation were fantastic, and asked how much more headroom was available with regards to capacity at the facilities.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager said that this question was difficult to answer, as facilities had ‘peak times’ when habitually people wished to use them and that if people could not use the facilities when they wished they would not renew their memberships. He said that as part of a planned £600,000 refurbishment at the Grange Paddocks gym, sensors had been deployed to measure the use of equipment, enabling a design which made better use of the space.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services asked if Everyone Active were aware that the limit to the number of younger people who could use the gym was causing parents to not be able to book for their children.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager said that they were aware of this issue and were looking to change age and availability times. He said that it was a struggle to meet the demand for younger people, but other users did not want to use the facilities alongside them. He said that exercise classes could be offered to this age group, but research had shown that they did not want ‘watered down’ versions of activities. 

Councillor Williamson said that there was lots of good news in the report, which was impressive. He asked if there were numbers relating to those who had not transferred from Leventhorpe and Fanshawe, and if there had been any efforts to entice these users.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager said that this was around 400 people, with some not transferring to other facilities due to practicalities and others deciding to do other activities. He said that pricing for transferees had been held for 12 months.

Councillor Nicholls asked if there was data which showed where those who used Ward Freeman had transferred to.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager said that these users had transferred to Ware facilities or had moved out of district to North Herts.

Councillor Nicholls asked if there was any offsetting of the facility’s high energy consumption.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager said that this was a national challenge. He said that active travel was encouraged for patrons and staff, with work with Neighbourhood Police Teams ongoing in relation to bike thefts.

Councillor Hart said that she was an advocate for ‘Save Fanshawe’ and that it would be good motivation to know if its closure meant that capacity could not be met by other facilities.

Mr Sharman said that the statistics within the report looked great and asked if targets were on track.

The Everyone Active Contracts Manager said that results were significantly higher than expected. He said that commercial activity could not be discussed in such an open forum, but the council were very happy from a financial perspective.

The Director for Finance, Risk and Performance said that the information was included in the budget setting report.

It was moved by Councillor Williamson and seconded by Councillor Nicholls, that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Annual Leisure Contract Performance Report (2024) as set by the service leisure provider be reviewed and received.