Agenda item

(1)        Places for People Leisure –

To consider the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1509 (copy attached) and Places for People Leisure’s Service Plan for 2015/16 (copy attached separately). The local Contract Manager, Mr. Duncan Mackay, will attend the meeting to present the Plan and answer questions.

(2)            Team Rushmoor –

To consider the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1510 (copy attached) and Team Rushmoor’s Service Plan for 2015/16 (copy attached separately). Team Rushmoor’s Contract Manager, Mr. John Stockings, will attend the meeting to present the Plan and answer questions.

(1)          Places for People Leisure –

The Cabinet received the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1509 and the Places for People (PfP) Leisure Delivery Plan 2015-16.  The Report advised that PfP had performed well on the contract during the previous year.  PfP and the Council had continued to work in partnership on the Megarider bus ticket and £1 summer holiday swimming initiatives.

Duncan Mackay, the local Contract Manager, attended the meeting to present the Leisure Delivery Plan.  There were a number of positive messages in the Delivery Plan.  PfP had been named, for the third year running, UK Active’s Leisure Centre Operator of the Year and had been the first organisation in the United Kingdom to receive a Quest Stretch validation in sports development. There had been an increase in attendance on the swimming lesson programmes and the number of casual swimmers had also gone up. There had been considerable investment in the leisure facilities at Farnborough Leisure Centre and Aldershot Pools, including £110,000 spent on replacement fitness equipment at Farnborough and a £60,000 refurbishment to the fitness facility at Aldershot. LED lighting had continued to be introduced at both sites. PfP’s customer advisers and marketing teams had continued to produce high quality marketing material and had worked closely with the Council’s Communications Team in a number of areas. Social media had been used increasingly in contacting existing and potential new customers. The price of gym membership had been cut significantly in order to compete with other local providers and this had seen a sharp increase in take-up.

The main issues for 2015-16 included continuing to enhance and improve the range of activities on offer to local residents, carrying out further improvement works at the facilities and working with the Council and other local partners to provide support to community safety initiatives and disadvantaged groups.

The Cabinet welcomed the Delivery Plan and the positive work carried out by PfP across the Borough.  There was some discussion on the increased use of technology in tracking students’ progress with swimming lessons amd how this might be rolled out and across other types of lessons. An enquiry was also made about visitor numbers to the Aldershot Lido and whether it had been adversely affected by the recent changeable weather.

The Cabinet RESOLVED that the Places for People Leisure Delivery Plan 2015-16, as set out in the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1509, be endorsed.

(2)          Team Rushmoor –

The Cabinet received the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1510 and the Team Rushmoor (Veolia) Service Plan for 2015-16.  Members were reminded that the current contract was due to end in March 2017.  Highlights in the Report included the continued growth of the brown bin garden waste collection scheme, the refurbishment of the Cove Green public toilets and securing the Silver Gilt award for Aldershot Town Centre in the South and South East In Bloom competition and the Gold award for the Aldershot Crematorium.

John Stockings, Veolia’s Contract Manager, attended the meeting to present the Service Plan.  The Cabinet was advised that there had been some issues in the winter due, mainly, to persistent strong winds which had caused litter to be spread over large areas. Whilst the Transport Industry had, generally, suffered a shortage in qualified LGV (Large Goods Vehicle) drivers, Veolia had overcome this by providing in-house driver training. Staff turnover had remained low at less than 1% of the workforce.

Issues for 2015-16 included working in partnership to reduce contamination, which continued to be a problem for the recycling service, utilising new software that had been introduced in relation to bulky waste collections and continuing to invest in renewing vehicles that were past their useful life. Preparing a comprehensive bid to retain the work at the contract retendering stage was also a key priority for Veolia in the coming year.

The Cabinet was satisfied at the level of service provided by Veolia under the contract and thanks were expressed to Mr Stockings, personally, as this was to be his final report to the Council before retirement.

The Cabinet RESOLVED that Team Rushmoor/Veolia’s Service Plan for 2015-16, as set out in the Corporate Director’s Report No. CD1510, be endorsed.