Agenda item

To submit a report by the Head of Regulation and Economic Development.

The report of the Head of Regulation and Economic Development incorporating the Môn Actif Strategic Plan 2024-29 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The Môn Actif Strategic Plan provides a clear direction and identifies key priority areas and vision for creating healthy communities on Anglesey over the next five year period.

The Môn Actif Strategic Plan 2024-29 was presented by Councillor Neville Evans, Portfolio Member for Leisure, Tourism and Maritime the aim being to ensure the Council has an achievable, sustainable and fit for purpose plan to provide services to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors to the Island. The plan recognises the need for continued investment in the Council’ s leisure facilities and that maximising opportunities for external funding will be key to that endeavour.  The strategic plan identifies five priority areas which link into the wider principles in the Council Plan 2023-28 and these relate to Participation, Health and Wellbeing, Workforce Development, Facilities Management, Financial Sustainability and Collaboration. Councillor Neville Evans referred to the variety of the leisure offering by Môn Actif and to the increased delivery of activities within the community where the Môn Actif brand is recognised and appreciated. Activity programmes run in the school holidays are especially popular and well attended. While challenges remain and are recognised, the strategic plan sets out the pathway for the Môn Actif service to remain sustainable and successful into the future.

The Head of Regulation and Economic Development advised that the strategic plan reaches beyond the leisure service alone and will yield wider social, economic and health benefits building on a collaborative way of working that has been successful in the past. Its impacts are expected to be felt over the course of the next few years and into the future. 

Councillor Douglas Fowlie, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee was invited to present Scrutiny’s perspective on the Môn Actif Strategic Plan from the committee’s 19 November 2024 meeting. Councillor Fowlie reported that the committee had discussed how the strategic plan enables the Council to realise the Council Plan 2023-28. Members had sought assurance regarding the data sources especially the local data in relation to childhood obesity and had asked questions about the sustainability of the Council’s leisure centres and the risks and challenges facing the Council and its partners in implementing the plan. The committee had wanted to know how the number of people using the Council’s leisure facilities could be increased and had noted that the current national KPI only measures the use of leisure centres and does not include users accessing Môn Actif services within the community. In recommending the Môn Actif Strategic Plan for the Executive’s approval, the Corporate Scrutiny Committee had agreed additional actions which included asking the Leader and Portfolio Member to consider requesting Welsh Government to review the scope of the national KPI to include people who access leisure services within the local community.

The Executive thanked Scrutiny for the feedback and for highlighting the limited scope of the national KPI and the importance of reflecting all the services provided by Môn Actif which extend beyond the use of leisure centres. The Executive noted the range of partners involved in the work and the links to health, wellbeing, prevention and independent living thus demonstrating the interrelationship of strategies across a number of areas. 

Councillor Dafydd Roberts, Portfolio Member for Education and the Welsh Language queried whether it is possible to characterise Môn Actif community based services as a form pf pop-up provision for the purpose of inclusion in the national KPI. The Leisure Service Manager advised that the service does collate data on the use of community based leisure services and while the data is fed into the service business plan it is not required to be reported to Welsh Government.  Councillor Nicola Roberts thought it appropriate and the Executive agreed that representation to Welsh Government on the lines suggested by Scrutiny should be made with supporting data and examples to show the value of Môn Actif community based services and the benefits deriving from the provision as justification for the inclusion of those services for recording by the national KPI. The Chair confirmed that such representation would be made.

The Chief Executive advised that should the objectives of this and the previous strategic plan be achieved the Island could be designated both an “age friendly” and an “active” island. He referred in the context of the many references to partnerships and collaboration to the excellent working relationship between Môn Actif and the Island’s schools which has become naturally established in the day to day operations of both services. He also referred to the role which the Môn Actif Strategic Plan has in providing opportunities for using the Welsh Language the reasoning being that young people are more likely to speak Welsh when they are engaged in activities they enjoy doing and in this respect the plan provides a sound basis on which to promote the use of the language as one of the Council’s strategic objectives.

It was resolved to approve the Môn Actif Strategic Plan 2024-29.