Agenda item

To receive reports from two Leisure Operators.

Robert Candlin, Centre Manager, and Matt Wickham, Chief Operating Officer, gave a presentation on the South Somerset contract with Freedom Leisure. They explained that they were a not-for-profit leisure trust operating since 2002 and took over facilities in South Somerset in April 2021; that they operate four sites in the area; the four objectives of the organisation; the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and challenges in South Somerset; the development works completed at three of the centres; the services they offer.

During the discussion, the following points were raised and responded to:

• It can be difficult to book into classes as they are full
  • We are always looking at the programme and how we can make improvements and add additional classes.
• How does membership compare to pre-pandemic?
  • There isn’t data available on that as we weren’t operating in South Somerset prior to the pandemic.
• In leisure demand can be inelastic. How does that impact pricing? How do you get over being fully booked and deterring walk-ins?
  • Main cost is staffing as everything gets more expensive, price is the only thing we can control.
  • We don’t have bookings on our lane swimming, you can walk-in.
• A large amount of money has gone to decarbonisation. Can you explain that?
  • This is government funding, supported by South Somerset District Council and then Somerset Council. Projects should have been finished 18 months ago, still not finished but almost there. Majority of the funding was central government, one of our objectives is sustainability and environmental.
• What are the issues with staffing? Is it turnover, short-term contracts, recruitment?
  • It is a challenge – the biggest challenge is the margins, a lot of staff are on minimum wage so the budget has a big impact on us. We struggle with getting people into the industry and keeping them. We lose a lot of people to emergency services, we are looking at our training. We want to find people who give back to our community.
• Are there any demographics you haven’t been able to reach?
  • There is still work to do with the older population. We have to look at the demographics of each town we operate in and understand the needs and what we are missing.
• One of the challenges is a leak – who is responsible for the leak?
  • We believe it is the council, it is being invested currently.
• Why are opening hours at the Chard facility limited?
  • We do need to look at that – opening hours are dictated with planning. Since we merged with 1610 there is another site in Chard so members will have access to both with varying hours.

The Chair thanked the presenters.

Mark Washington, Contract Manager and Adam Mundy, Regional Contract Activity & Wellbeing Manager then gave a presentation on Everyone Active. They explained that Everyone Active operates 5 centres in Somerset; they are a large national operator; there are challenges with recruitment and retention; they use a health and wellbeing framework; they are working towards Carbon Net Zero; Vivary Golf Course and Adventure Centre have had a very good year; the ‘4Cs’ strategy of Communities, Colleagues, Carbon Reduction, and Commercial Delivery; the social value impact; the wider engagement work they do with SASP and the NHS.

During the discussion, the following points were raised and responded to:

• There have been complaints about the showers at Blackbrook, have they been addressed?
  • The showers have been fixed.
• Can people go without booking, is it possible to get a paper timetable and pay in cash, is it accessible for people who can’t or won’t book?
  • We prefer not to print paper timetables but may be able to photocopy the laminated copy at reception. Blackbrook are cashless but Taunton School do take cash.
• What is the benefit of the partnership with the Cricket Club?
  • There is brand awareness, player engagement, and support for walking cricket. It helps to raise awareness locally – team building can take place at high ropes. It is early in the partnership and hard to quantify benefits.
• The age demographics are quite young – how are you attracting people in their 50s?
  • With our programmes we have a good full range of coverage. The aquatic side might not be for everyone.
• Interested in social value with the aging population. Would love to see figures about what social value could be in West Somerset
  • Not sure if social value figures can be done speculatively, but we can take that away.

There was then a more general discussion about leisure operators:

• Only two operators have come to the committee today, did we ask all operators to attend?
  • In the east we have landlord/tenant arrangements rather than the contracts we have in South and West. We are currently starting a procurement exercise in the North, a contract ending in September 2025. Once we know who the operator will be then we will likely invite them along, but at the moment there isn’t a contractual agreement.
• Can we ask if there is peer collaboration across providers so that there is equality of services to all of our communities?
  • There is a problem of inheriting four different systems from districts. We can take that away and look at that.