Agenda item

Delivering with Less: Leisure Services - Isle of Anglesey County Council

To present the report of External Audit.

Minutes:

The report of External Audit setting out the findings of a follow-up review to the Auditor General’s 2015 national report – Delivering with Less – Leisure Services was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report considers the impact of reductions in local government funding on the Council’s leisure services and the effectiveness of the Council’s arrangements for delivering those services.

 

Mr Alan Hughes, Audit Wales referred to the context of the report and clarified that the fieldwork was completed and the contents of the report finalised prior to the onset of Covid-19 hence no reference is made to the impact of the pandemic on the leisure service; with this in mind it was agreed that the report should be released with this caveat. Overall the report is positive in its messages and concludes that the Council has continued to deliver its leisure centres with less resources and it has a clear vision for the future of the service, but that run down facilities pose a financial challenge. In detail, the report finds that –

 

           There has been a reduction in the Council’s leisure service resources since 2014-15 and the service net cost has decreased. The leisure service budget has reduced by 77% in the last four years partly offset by an increase in income of 31% and a fall in expenditure of 11%.

           The Council has a clear vision for its leisure service and is effectively considering the service’s financial sustainability. The Council recognises its run down leisure centres are a risk. The Council has considered the requirements of the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 in setting priorities and developing its new strategy for leisure services and is able to demonstrate examples of improved well-being through leisure. As part of that strategy the Council has focused on taking a more commercial approach to leisure by investing in its facilities and growing membership and income to make the service more self-sustaining; this is beginning to have an impact with income at the Plas Arthur Leisure Centre in Llangefni exceeding expenditure by 9% in 2018/19. The Council has also reviewed and compared potential delivery options for its leisure service.

           The Council has robust performance monitoring and governance arrangements but recognises it could improve its understanding of the outcomes achieved. The Council has a clear accountability structure for its leisure service and a management information dashboard system that allows officers to monitor performance. However, the Council recognises it could make further use of its data and technology to improve understanding of the effects of its service e.g. to identify non users and target their services more effectively and by further analysis of data to reach a better understanding of the outcomes of different activities.

           Most service users are satisfied with the leisure service and the Council uses customer feedback to inform the design and delivery of the service. Most respondents to the survey by External Audit were happy with the Council’s leisure service with 50% of the view that the quality of the service had improved in recent years and 83% of the view that the service provides good value for money.

 

Mr Alan Hughes added that since the report was drafted, the Council has in March, 2020 determined to make a capital investment in leisure which alleviates some of the concerns raised by the audit with regard to the condition of leisure buildings.

 

In welcoming the overall tenor of the report which it found very encouraging, the Committee raised the following issues –

 

           Whether External Audit finds that the Council made the right decision in continuing to deliver its leisure service in-house. Mr Alan Hughes said that the process undertaken internally by the Council shows that the Council evaluated the available options for the future delivery of  its leisure service and that some of the factors that might have led other authorities to go down alternative delivery routes e.g. for non-domestic tax advantages were not so apparent locally. The Council came to a reasonable conclusion in light of local conditions.

           That the pandemic has shown the importance of leisure and physical activities in supporting people’s mental and physical well-being and that this should be a key consideration for the future. In light of this and the likely strain on the Council’s budget after the pandemic should not the Council be doing more with the Llangefni Golf Course which is currently unused in terms of realising the asset and thereby releasing much needed funds to support the Youth Service for example.

 

The Commercial Leisure Service Manager advised that work is going on with regard to  assessing the options for the Llangefni Golf Course with the hope that should it be sold, the proceeds can be reinvested in youth and leisure services .In more general terms the report is to be welcomed since  the demand on leisure services especially on the Exercise Referral scheme team is likely to increase significantly following the pandemic as the Health Board continues to utilise the scheme to address community health issues  among the older population and increasingly among younger people; in addition Covid 19 has also shown the value of working in collaboration and has provided opportunities for strengthening the partnership with the Health Board. The pandemic has further shown how much leisure centres are appreciated by their users and as feedback indicates, how much they been missed when they have had to close. During the periods of enforced closure, Leisure Service staff have alternatively been involved in the range of community support work that has gone on throughout the emergency. The Commercial Leisure Manager said that he was confident that the recovery will see the Leisure Service adapting and coming back stronger.

 

           In noting that the report recognises that the Council’s leisure buildings are run down and in need of refurbishment, the Committee sought clarity with regard to the prospects for the Council being able to modernise and update its leisure centres.

 

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer advised that the Council is aware that money needs to be spent on its leisure centres and that it did commission an outside company to review the service and to assess how best to bring the facilities up to standard. The problem of ageing facilities is compounded by the fact that three of the four leisure centres were built around the same time and are all now coming to the end of their lifespan. Holyhead Leisure Centre is in a slightly worse condition than the centres in Amlwch and Llangefni but replacing it would cost in the region of £15m to £20m which is capital investment on a level that is very difficult to make in the current circumstances. Had Wylfa Newydd proceeded then funds for a new centre in Amlwch and possibly in Holyhead could have become available through that process allowing the Council to then address issues in Plas Arthur in Llangefni. As it is, the strategy is to maintain and where possible, update the leisure centres to extend their lifespan for another ten years in the hope that the financial situation will by then have improved. If the Llangefni Golf Course is sold, then a decision in principle has been made to use the funds for the Plas Arthur Leisure Centre and options for Amlwch and Holyhead are being considered. However, the Council’s property assets also includes schools and the Council headquarters which need to be maintained and updated;  a long term strategy for these and other Council buildings will have to be developed and agreed.

 

           Following on from the above the Committee queried whether it would be feasible to link refurbishing the leisure centres with the Schools’ Modernisation Programme. 

 

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer advised that one way of continuing to fund the Schools Modernisation Programme which  Welsh Government is looking at is the Mutual Investment Model (MIM) . Under  the MIM private sector partners build and maintain public assets with the Council, supported by funding from Welsh Government paying an annual fee to the private partner  over a set period to cover the cost of construction, maintenance  and financing the project. At the end of the period, the asset transfers to the Council. The MIM is being considered for projects to the value of £15m upwards which could make it appropriate for a scheme involving Amlwch Secondary School although the inclusion of the leisure centre within that scheme would have to be discussed with Welsh Government as the model is only being considered for educational facilities at present. The Council has entered into an agreement with the body that will deliver  MIM projects which gives it the opportunity to participate in a MIM project in future if it so wishes.

 

Responding to a question about a facilities upgrade in the context of the International Island Games which Anglesey has won the right to host, the Commercial Leisure Manager advised that the bid for the Island Games was made and approved on the basis of the current facilities and that no additional funds should be expected in the wake of being awarded the Games.  Whilst some of the Islands which have staged the Games previously have spent a sizeable amount of money on upgrading their facilities, this has depended on the local financial situation.

 

It was resolved to accept the report and to note the contents.

 

NO PROPOSAL FOR ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS MADE

 

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