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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING, TOURISM AND LEISURE SERVICES SELECT
COMMITTEE – 24 FEBRUARY 2003 CONTRACTOR FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TOURISM SERVICES REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT |
At the previous meeting of this Select Committee, Members requested a
paper on the steps taken in awarding a contract for the management of tourism
services to a tourism consultant.
ACTION
REQUIRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE
To note the report on the steps taken and the rationale behind the
appointment of a tourism consultant, under contract, to undertake the role of
Acting Head of Tourism for a fixed period of six months. |
BACKGROUND
At its meeting of 21 May 2002 the Executive was advised that the Head of
Tourism had secured another post and considered options in respect of the
future management of the service. It
resolved to relocate the service into the directorate of Education and
Community Development under the responsibility of the Head of Community
Development. It also resolved that:-
“the Head of Paid Services and the Head of Community Development
determine temporary arrangements to ensure the continued good management of
Tourism Services until the future organisational arrangements are in place, the
costs of which will not exceed the salary costs of the departing Head of
Tourism.”
In order that any temporary arrangements were made on a sound basis, the
Head of Community Development then undertook to become involved with the day to
day management of the service with a view to being able to produce an
appropriate job description and person specification within 3 months, to ensure
that as wide a pool of prospective applicants would be available.
It was also hoped to be able to have a clear view as to what the future
organisational arrangements of tourism services might be to inform the
recruitment process. It did however
become clear that this view would be difficult to come to in the time available
and it was therefore felt prudent to seek to recruit a manager to both manage
and seek to externalise the service.
A job description, person specification and job evaluation were all
prepared on this basis and were shared with the Executive of the Island Tourist
Industry Association (ITIA) at its meeting of 9 October 2003. The ITIA Executive were not supportive of
the proposals being made and sought a meeting with the Leader and other Members
of the Council having an interest in tourism and also the Head of Paid Service
and Head of Community Development.
This meeting took place on 29 October 2002 at the Westridge Centre. At the meeting representatives from
ITIA set out that they did not feel it
would be appropriate to seek to recruit a new service manager until such time
as the future organisational externalisation arrangements had been
finalised. ITIA was seriously
considering making proposals to take over the management of the service and
felt that, if this was to happen, it would want to
recruit its “own person” to manage the service on its behalf. ITIA felt
that the person of its choosing would be significantly different to that which
the Council might choose at this time.
The Council representatives at the meeting understood and accepted this
suggestion but made it very clear that if this was to be the case, then
temporary arrangements for the day to day management of the service would need
to be put in place. The Head of
Community Development set out that the approach to this would be to recruit a
suitably experienced tourism consultant to both manage the service and
undertake some specific projects in relation to the development of the service
overall. He further reinforced this as
being the preferred solution at a meeting to which all of the members of Isle
of Wight Tourism/ITIA were invited on 20 November 2002.
The Head of Community Development approached two specialist leisure and
tourism companies known to him and also the regional tourist board to ascertain
if they would be willing to quote for the work or knew of any suitably
experienced person who would. Two
suggestions were received and the CV’s of these consultants were received.
Having reviewed the CV’s, meetings were arranged with both consultants
in order to consider their suitability and to brief them on the work that was
required to be done. Following the
interviews/briefing, both were asked to submit a project proposal for how they
would complete the required works and at what cost.
An evaluation of the project proposals, range and quality of the tourism
experience of the consultant, availability and price was made and the
consultant that offered the greatest potential to move the service forward was
awarded the contract.
Mrs. Rita Williams was awarded the six month contract and began working
on it in the middle of January. She has
significant experience as a tourism consultant, having worked for Pannell,
Kerr, Forster and L & R Leisure, as well as in an independent capacity for
a number of years. She has also worked
for the English Tourist Board. Two of
her more notable projects include an evaluation of Zimbabwe Tourism Development
Plan and the production of such a plan for the island of Madeira.
The specific projects which she is to complete (although these are
subject to review after 4 weeks) as part of the contract are as follows:-
·
To manage and review the staff and operations of
Isle of Wight Tourism in accordance with Council Policy.
·
To contribute to the creation, review and
delivery of the Tourism Development Plan for the Island.
·
To advise on the opportunities to externalise all
or some of the services provided by Isle of Wight Tourism.
·
To review the Council’s current arrangements and
relationships with the Island’s tourist industry to improve understanding and
ensure greater transparency and clarity over the respective roles of each.
·
To work for the Island to become a sub region
within the new Regional Tourist Board
The consultancy contract provides for Mrs. Williams to work for between
20 and 23 hours a week on a minimum of 3 days.
The contract is being funded by the savings being made by the Council
from the vacant head of service position.
No new money is being used to finance this contract.
It is hoped that within the 6 month timescale of this contract. Some of the decisions in relation to the
organisation of tourism services will have been reached, thereby allowing
recruitment of the permanent head of service.
This should ideally follow immediately from the end of the contract,
ensuring that there is a continuation in the management of the service.
1. To note the background to
and rationale behind the appointment of a consultant, under contract, to manage
tourism services in the interim.
2. To further review the
award of the management contract.
The development of tourism is one of the seven key themes of the
Community Strategy. Many of the associated actions flow from the creation of a
Tourism Development Plan, due by
Tourism is also a central feature in the Council’s own Corporate Plan,
contributing significantly to the objective of “Encouraging job creation and
economic prosperity”.
BACKGROUND PAPERS
None
Contact Point : John
Metcalfe, Head of Community Development and Tourism
( 823825
D PETTITT
Strategic Director of Education and Community Development