Agenda and minutes

(Director of Governance) To note the current Terms of Reference for the Group:

(i)         To assist in ensuring that the Council is in the best position to obtain a competitive and effective tender to deliver the desired outcomes of the Leisure and Cultural Strategy.

(ii)        To review the current services provided under the Leisure Management Contract and consider any changes to the programme of activity offered, how the contract may be packaged and the length of any contract period.

(iii)       To critically review the 4 Sports and Leisure Centres owned by the Council, giving consideration to their location, age, condition, costs/subsidy, and make recommendations on future provision/investment.

(iv)       To advise the Council’s Client Officer Team as they undertake the competitive dialogue process, considering options that may emerge as part of any bidders’ proposals.

(v)        To provide input into the appointment process for any potential contractor, and in particular, to participate in a Member Presentation and Interview Panel.

(vi)       To support the Portfolio Holder in recommending any successful Leisure Management Tender to the Cabinet, taking into consideration the Service and   Financial implications for the Council.

The Advisory Group noted their Terms of Reference.

(Director of Governance) To agree the notes of the last meeting of the Portfolio Holder Advisory Group on Leisure Management, held on 25 July 2016 (attached).

Resolved:

That the minutes of the last meeting held on 25 July 2016 be taken as agreed as a correct record subject to noting that Councillor Chambers had raised the issue on parking in Loughton Leisure Centre under minute item 3, paragraph 8.

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report (LMC-004-2016/17).

The Director of Neighbourhoods informed the meeting that a lot of the information had been relayed to members at their recent briefing. They were looking to formulate a recommendation to put to the Cabinet meeting and then on to full council for the awarding of the contract for the management of the Council’s Leisure Services.

R Thompson from RTP Consulting gave a presentation on the final tender evaluations. This stage was where the bidders submitted their best and final offer.  All three bidders submitted affordable tenders and following further dialogue and clarification one was selected as the preferred and one the reserve bidder. He presented the results of the Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (ISFT). The meeting noted that their recommendation to award a contract would go to Cabinet on 1 December 2016 and then to Council on 15 December 2016.

Some of the key outcomes were on facility investment, such as the redevelopment of the Waltham Abbey Pool, investment in the Epping and the Ongar Sports Centres and investment in the Loughton Leisure Centre. Also looked at was service delivery and their financial investment, such as securing Capital Investment, improving the revenue position and the surplus share of profits.

Officers evaluated the various criteria on services such as on outcomes, quality/customer care, operational delivery, sports development, staffing, health and safety and on technical matters, such as development/design, planning risk, design and maintenance proposals and their environmental approach. Also, on commercial matters such as usage, expenditure and revenues, affordability, contract acceptance, capital costs, delivery and risks. These were evaluated and rated using a scoring system from 0 to 5. Zero being unacceptable and five being excellent.

It was noted that all three bidders were established operators with experience of delivering development schemes and were within affordability levels presented by the Council. They had all submitted plans for the redevelopment of Waltham Abbey and also significant investment in health and fitness in Loughton and to refresh and enhance health and fitness in Epping and Ongar. They also provided indicative revenue projections for the new North Weald Leisure Centre.

For Waltham Abbey, all bidders proposed 6 lane, 25 metre pool plus learner pool, enhanced health and fitness plus two studios and a community room. They took into account the planning statement linked to shopping precinct, plus the provision of parking.  The three bidders also provided different designs solutions for the leisure centres.

All three bidders proposed significant increase in participation and to focus on GP referrals and health support sessions along with prioritising the young and the elderly, while retaining the existing pricing in accordance with specifications.

The bidders also provided a financial overview of their bids providing savings on existing services of between £0.8m and £1million per annum. Indicative car parking costs were also taken into account, although all costs were considered to be indicative at this stage.

Taking the detailed bids into consideration and applying officers evaluated and scored using the established system. The resulting totals were as follows:

·         Bidder  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

(Director of Governance) To note that there are no future meetings of the Portfolio Holder Advisory Group currently scheduled.

The meeting noted that this would be the last meeting of this group.