PAPER D
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE SERVICES SELECT
COMMITTEE - 10 FEBRUARY 2005
PROGRESS REPORT ON THE WORK OF
THE CULTURE AND LEISURE PROJECT BOARD
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR TOURISM AND LEISURE
The Committee wishes to monitor the progress of the Culture and Leisure
Project Board, formerly known as Wight Leisure Project Board.
ACTION REQUIRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE
To make any relevant comment on the achievements of the Project Board.
BACKGROUND
A progress report on the work of the Project Board was last considered
by the Committee at its meeting of 2 September 2004. Subsequent to that meeting a report was presented to the
Executive on 6 October 2004. This
enabled the Board to fully comply with the timescales set for it.
This report is written such as to identify the decisions made by the
Executive on 6 October 2004 and update Members of the Select Committee with
actions taken in respect of the implementation of those decisions.
The core and secondary leisure services shown
in annex
1 have been considered alongside other community development services and
reconfigured into service groupings which seek to build on links and synergies
between service areas. These groupings
are shown in annex 2, the organisation plan for the new department. The formation of the new department under a
new heading of “Cultural and Leisure Services” will enable the gradual phasing
out of the name “Wight Leisure” as the service department will no longer
exist. The end of the Wight Leisure
brand will be undertaken in as efficient a manner as possible via the
replacement of goods, materials and publications as they come to the natural
end of their useful life.
The new organisational plan for the
department is shown in annex
2. A recruitment exercise has now
been completed to appoint service managers to those “newer” areas where
services have been re-organised. A
transition to the organisational arrangements is underway and will be fully
implemented by 1 March 2005.
These proposals are shown in annex
3.
A significant amount of work has been
undertaken on realising the delivery of these services in the manner proscribed
in the annex. Proposals from interested
parties are currently being sought for the operation of:-
·
Ventnor Park
·
Puckpool Park
·
The dotto
trains
The due date for the return of these
proposals is Friday 11 February at 12.00 noon.
The transfer of Ryde Harbour to either
another Council department or a third party operator has not yet been
achieved. The Project Board received a
presentation from the Council’s Coastal Protection Manager which raised some
issues about the environmental changes impacting on the harbour and which would
need to be fully investigated to inform any future long-term management
arrangements. He is shortly to present
to the Board options for how such a study may be undertaken.
As a consequence, Ryde Harbour will continue
to be operated by the Cultural and Leisure Services department for the next
financial year.
The transfer of the responsibility for
Northwood House and Park to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services will, by
agreement, not now take place until the Autumn of 2005. This is predominantly to allow the works to
be completed to facilitate the relocation of the Register Office to Northwood
House, thereby creating the on-site management presence necessary to achieve
the service transfer.
A schedule of meetings with local Town and
Parish Councils is currently being finalised to move forward the transfer of
the community halls to their responsibility.
The transfer of all services listed to the
Parks and Gardens department has been completed.
4. The Project Board to
continue on revised terms of reference
The agreed revised terms of reference are
shown in annex
4. The Executive has widened the
remit of the Board to review all areas of the cultural and leisure services and
make recommendations to it in respect of the scale of the Council’s continued
involvement with these services.
It should also be noted that in complying
with these terms of reference, the Project Board has been able to ensure the
production of the business plan for the development of new health and fitness
proposals at Westridge. This was
reported to the Executive on 26 January 2005 when approval was given to develop
these facilities and co-locate Cultural and Leisure Services alongside Tourism
Services at Westridge.
RELEVANT PLANS, POLICIES,
STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
One of the aspirations of the community strategy, under the theme of
“Improving Access to Services and Facilities” is to “encourage physically
and/or mentally stimulating activities as a route to staying healthy and a
foundation for a full and active life”.
The Council’s own key objective of improving health, housing and the
quality of life for all identifies the promotion of healthy living as being of
particular importance and refers to encouraging the uptake of physically and
mentally stimulating activities, as referred to above, as a key priority.
Working with the tourism industry to promote the Island as an all-year
holiday destination, particularly seeking to develop sustainable tourism
initiatives and improving standards of customer care in the industry is a
particular priority for the Council within the context of its objective to
encourage job creation and economic prosperity.
Services provided by the Council through Cultural and Leisure Services
and the areas for improvement identified in the best value improvement plans in
particular, can be seen to clearly link with these strategic themes, objectives
and aspirations.
The completion of the Wight Leisure Review and implementation of its
findings are part of the Council’s declared priorities for 2004/05, as set out
in the Annual Action Statement.
The Board has been well advised by the senior managers within Wight
Leisure and also Community Development.
A meeting with the Staff Consultative Committee of Wight Leisure was
held on 12 January 2005. The progress
outlined in this report was discussed and well received by the group.
FINANCIAL, LEGAL, CRIME AND DISORDER IMPLICATIONS
A reduction in the range and scale of leisure services supported by the
Council to a more focused approach will lead to some efficiency savings being
generated in the overall management of the services. The scale of saving is currently being finalised.
Most of the services promoted through Cultural and Leisure Services are
discretionary. There is, nevertheless,
a need to procure their delivery in such a way as to deliver best value
services as defined in the 1999 Local Government Act. The advent of the Local Government Act 2000 and the prudential
borrowing code will assist in the lawful, innovative development of the service.
ANNEXES ATTACHED
1.
Core and
Secondary Leisure Services.
2.
The
Organisation Plan for Cultural and Leisure Services.
3.
Options for the
future delivery of “Other” Services.
4.
Project Board’s
Revised Terms of Reference.
BACKGROUND PAPERS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS REPORT
Contact Point :
John Metcalfe, ' 3825 e-mail [email protected]
COUNCILLOR JOHN FLEMING
Portfolio Holder for Tourism and Leisure