Agenda item

O&S.31/22       

The lead Executive Member for Community Wellbeing introduced the report which provided an update on the current performance and the summary information for the past three months of the District’s Leisure Centres.

During the introduction from the Fusion Business Manager (Devon) (Mr Peter King), the following points were made:

·           The Leisure Sector nationally was experiencing difficult times due to: the slow recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic; the current economic instability; the increase in fuel prices; the cost of living crisis; and issues with staff recruitment and retention;

·           Locally, the recovery of the Council’s four Leisure Centres was ongoing and usage figures were favourable when compared to the national averages, although the Totnes Leisure Centre was doing less well and this was perhaps due to its ageing facilities;

·           A Sports and Community Development Officer had been recruited and had recently taken up post; and

·           The decarbonisation of the Leisure Centres by means of the installation of solar panels had been delayed by the requirement for a new Tendering process to take place, but this had now been completed.

Mr King then provided Members with an update on the key issues and achievements of the previous quarter that included:

·           free Memberships for December 2022 and January 2023 had been launched in the summer. In addition, free (and reduced priced sessions) had also been employed to drive up footfall and had proven to be successful;

·           an increase and closer working with local Community Groups which had seen the successful return of Youth Nights and Roller Disco Sessions.  Mr King also advised that Fusion had appointed a dedicated Community Outreach resource to help to improve community engagement;

·           following a successful summer season, footfall and Memberships were nearing 2019 (i.e. pre Covid Pandemic) levels;

·           there had been a reduction in customer satisfaction surrounding changing rooms and cleanliness but changes had been made to address this trend.  Conversely, positive feedback had been received with regard to the attitude and professionalism of staff, centre facilities, the swimming pools and group exercise sessions;

·           the focus of the organisation for 2023 would be on the installation of Solar Panels, Community Outreach service provision, parent and child sessions, the refurbishment of the Totnes Leisure Centre, the Pricing Strategy and the development of Centre Café facilities.

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were raised:

a)         A Member queried the likely performance in the coming quarter in view of the aforementioned Cost of Living Crisis. In response, it was confirmed that Fusion recognised the challenges and would be looking to introduce a number of Membership initiatives to help with the January to March 2023 period;

b)        Local Ward Members raised their concerns over the lack of recovery in Membership numbers at the Totnes Leisure Centre in comparison to the other Centres in the South Hams and it was queried whether this was as a direct result of the lack of investment in the facility. In reply, it was confirmed that the lack of investment was likely to have been part of the cause, but it was highlighted that there were different patterns of use at Totnes following the Pandemic, as customers were largely attending the Centre on a ‘Pay and Play’ basis as opposed to signing up to a membership scheme;

In expanding upon the point, a local Ward Member highlighted the comment contained in paragraph 4.2 of the presented agenda report that stated that Fusion had recently taken the decision not to proceed with the proposed investment at the Totnes Leisure facility at present.  The Member proceeded to question how the much needed refurbishments would be progressed.  In response, it was confirmed that the current economic conditions had resulted in the current borrowing model being deemed unviable but that a number of different funding options would be examined over the coming six to nine months to help develop a viable business case.

An amendment to the recommendation was then PROPOSED and SECONDED and, when put to the vote, was declared CARRIED as follows:

“That the contents and progress of Fusion’s Quarterly Report: Q2 for 2022, be noted and that as a result of the disappointing membership figures for Totnes Leisure Centre, it be requested that proposals for progressing the much needed improvements to be made to the Totnes Leisure Centre facility, be included as part of the 16 March 2023 formal update report from Fusion to the Committee.”

When put to the vote, the amendment was declared CARRIED;

c)         Whilst there had been an improvement during the summer months, staff retention continued to be a real challenge and Mr King set out some of the measures that were being undertaken by Fusion to mitigate the impact;

d)        A Member questioned the merits of continuing to benchmark performance data against pre-Covid levels, as it was now largely accepted that the changes in lifestyle and working patterns were likely to be permanent and that there was little value in referring to data sets from pre 2020.  In reply it was stated that, at this point, there was little benchmarking data available from the post-Pandemic period but that going forward, it was agreed that comparisons with more current data would be of use;

e)        In response to queries raised, the role of the newly appointed Outreach worker was highlighted, further information was provided in connection with the status of the Café facilities in each Leisure Centre and an explanation of the financial benefits of Membership subscriptions above ‘Pay and Play’ customers was also outlined.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the contents and progress of Fusion’s Quarterly Report: Q2 for 2022, be noted and that as a result of the disappointing membership figures for Totnes Leisure Centre, it be requested that proposals for progressing the much needed improvements to be made to the Totnes Leisure Centre facility, be included as part of the 16 March 2023 formal update report from Fusion to the Committee.

In closing the agenda item, the Chairman highlighted that this was to be the last Committee meeting for Mr King before he left the employ of Fusion and, on behalf of the Committee, he proceeded to thank him for his engagement with the Council during his time in post and wished him well for the future.