PAPER B
Purpose : For Decision
REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE
Date : 6 APRIL 2005
Title: PROPOSALS OF THE CULTURAL AND LEISURE
SERVICES REVIEW PROJECT BOARD
REPORT OF THE DEPUTY LEADER
IMPLEMENTATION
DATE
: 18 April 2005
SUMMARY/PURPOSE
1.
Members
are asked to consider the conclusions and recommendations of the Project Board
in respect of the Council’s future approach to the delivery of its cultural and
leisure services.
BACKGROUND
2.
At
its meeting of the 6 October 2004 the Executive received the Project Board’s
final report which satisfied its terms of reference as set for it by the
Executive of 28 January 2004. It also
accepted the Board’s recommendation that it should continue under revised terms
of reference which encompassed all of the service areas within the Cultural and
Leisure Services division.
3.
This
report represents a summary of the work completed to date by the Project Board and
is essentially a statement of work in progress. It signposts areas in which the Board would wish to complete
further work to understand the efficiency and effectiveness of the services and
their impact on corporate priorities.
4.
The
revised terms of reference set for the Board are reproduced at annex 1 and are
used as the framework for this report.
(A) The Council’s Scale of Involvement/Support for cultural
and leisure services
In addition to the work that it
completed in respect of leisure services, the Board has now reviewed the
following service areas:-
·
Libraries
·
Museums
·
Archives
·
Arts
Development
·
Theatres
·
Sports
Development
·
Events
·
Medina
Dual Use Centre
The general conclusions and recommendations
that it has reached about these services are shown in annex 2. It is worth pointing out that the Board felt
it
useful to consider the Medina
Dual Use Centre as an entirely separate item, given the lack of clarity it found
in the current management agreements which lead to much confusion between the
partners.
The Board was not able to
investigate in detail the financial consequences of its conclusions and
recommendations, given the amount of work it had to complete in a short
time. Nevertheless it feels that it has
set out an appropriate path to be followed to ensure that the services reviewed
offer maximum benefit to the Council in the future.
(B) Monitor the Implementation of the Procurement Approaches to
the “Other
Services”
The “Other Services” are those
formerly delivered through leisure services but which the Board felt were
neither core or secondary to the Council’s aspirations for its leisure
function. It therefore recommended that
they should be delivered in another way if at all.
The current position and
planned actions in respect of these services is shown in annex 3. It should be noted from this annex that only
in the case of Ryde Harbour are deviations from the original recommendations expected.
The Coastal Protection Service
has expressed some concerns over the impact that the changing environment in
the Solent will have on Ryde Harbour in the medium term. These changes could significantly affect its
running costs in this period and an environmental impact study has therefore
been suggested to assess the scale and timing of it. Once the results of this study are known, then more informed
decisions about the future of the harbour and suitable approaches to its
management can be made.
(C) New Organisational Arrangements
The formation of the new
division under the heading of “Cultural and Leisure Services” will enable the
gradual phasing out of the name “Wight Leisure” as the service division 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.
A recruitment exercise has now been
completed to appoint Service Managers to the “new” service arrangements
following the reorganisation. The new
organisational arrangements became fully effective from 1 March 2005.
(D) The Westridge
Health and Fitness Business Plan
The Board developed and “signed
off” the business plan during the Autumn of 2004. It also took a considerable interest in the estimated costs associated with the overall
project (office and fitness facilities) before declaring itself satisfied with
the scheme. This was formally agreed by
the Executive on 26 January 2005.
Tenders are currently being
sought for the building works and it is anticipated that the co-location of
Cultural and Leisure Services with Tourism and the development of the health
and fitness facility will be complete by August 2005.
(E) Northwood House Business Plan
The Board has had little
involvement in this business plan as the move of the Registrar’s function to
Northwood House is still to be effected.
Tenders have been received for the building works necessary to make the
move possible and are presently being evaluated.
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
5.
The
cultural and leisure services provided and enabled by the Council form a major
part of the service base through which the Island’s cultural strategy is
delivered. The primary aim of the
strategy to “enhance the quality of life of IW residents through the provision
of cultural experiences and opportunities and the development of cultural values”
could not be achieved without these services.
6.
The
theme of “improving quality of life” runs through the Island’s Community
Strategy and also the Council’s Corporate Plan. Cultural and leisure services can therefore have a significant
role to play in the delivery of these two key strategies.
7.
The
completion of a review of the Council’s services provided through “Wight
Leisure” and the implementation of the findings was one of the Council’s
commitments in the 2004/05 Annual Action Statement.
CONSULTATION
8.
Meetings
with the Cultural and Leisure Services Senior Management Team have played a key
role in advising the Project Board. By
the end of February 2005 four staff briefing sessions were completed to update
all staff in the division in respect of the changes and the new managerial
arrangements.
FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS
9.
The
work of the Board has to date yielded savings of some £100,000 which were
factored into the budget for 2005/06.
Additional savings will accrue from some of those recommendations made
in annex 2 but these will be over the longer term and outside of the life of
the Board.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
10.
With
the exception of the library service, the services provided by the Cultural and
Leisure Services division are all 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.
OPTIONS
i) Accept the analysis and conclusions of the Cultural and
Leisure Services Project Board as set out in Annex 2.
ii) Adopt recommendations 1 to 13 inclusive in Annex 2, as a statement
of the Council’s intended future policy in respect of the delivery of Cultural
and Leisure Services.
iii) Accept the statement of progress and planned actions in Annex
3 in respect of procurement of the services not thought to be core or secondary
in the Council’s leisure service portfolio.
iv) Charge the relevant Portfolio holder(s) with the delivery of
the recommendations
and planned actions as set out in Annexes 2 and 3.
v) To vary or reject all of the options listed (i) to (iv).
EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT
11.
Cultural
and leisure services are able to impact on the life of the whole community in
that they are able to provide opportunities that protect the sense of place
that is the Island, the sense of belonging for the community and the sense of
being of the individual. The
recommendations as set out in Annex 2 will allow the services to effectively
fulfil each of these roles in the future bringing maximum benefit to the
Island’s residents and visitors
12.
The
conclusions and recommendations set out in Annex 2, linked to those previously
agreed for leisure services, establish a clear policy statement of the
Council’s expectations of cultural and leisure services, now and in the
future. Having clear expectations is of
paramount importance in the service planning and improvement process to ensure
that effectiveness and efficiency changes are clearly linked to expectations.
13.
There
is a risk that if the proposed policy framework set out in Annex 2 is not seen
as a medium to longer-term aspiration, then all of the benefits from its
production will be lost. Short-term
policy changes may cause significant deviations from the planned approach and
hinder the delivery of anticipated improvements.
.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
14.
That options (i) to (iv) be adopted.
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BACKGROUND PAPERS
1. `Detailed analysis of the “Other Services” (prepared by Wight
Leisure Senior Managers)
2. “Re-integration of Wight Leisure with the Council” report to the
Executive, 28 July 2004
3. “Proposals of the Wight Leisure Review Project Board”, report to
the Executive, 6 October 2004
Contact Point : John Metcalfe, Head of Cultural and
Leisure Services
( 823825 Email:
[email protected]
|
JOHN METCALFE
Head of Cultural and Leisure
Services
|
PETER HARRIS
Deputy Leader of the Council
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Annex 1
WIGHT
LEISURE PROJECT BOARD
New
Terms of Reference
1.
To consider and make
recommendations on the scale of the Council’s involvement/support for all of
the services encompassed within the Cultural and Leisure Service Unit.
2.
To monitor the
implementation and effectiveness of the agreed procurement approaches to the
“other” services.
3.
To monitor the
implementation and effectiveness of the new organisational arrangements for
Cultural and Leisure Services in delivering its services in an economic,
effective and efficient manner.
4.
To approve the
business plan for the development of a Health and Fitness facility at the
Westridge Centre as part of the project to co-locate Cultural, Leisure and
Tourism services at the centre.
5.
To performance manage
the implementation of the business plan for the delivery of the Register Office
function to Northwood House (as recommended by the Board as its preferred
procurement model).
6.
To re-name the Board
as the Cultural and Leisure Services Project Board.
7.
That the Board make
its final report to the Executive by the end of March 2005.