Agenda and minutes

Information on public speaking is available online

There were no public speakers registered to speak.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2021 were noted as a true and accurate record.

In discussion, the Forum recognised that there were legitimate reasons for items being included under Part B but expressed that in the interests of openness and transparency, they should endeavour to include as many items as possible under the Part A section of the meeting.  Where possible, sensitive information could be removed from documents to move them into part A so that members of the public may read them. 

Guidance is available online to Councillors and co-opted members on making declarations of interest

Cllr Paul Arnott: Minutes 85 – 92; Personal Interest: Membership of LED Community Leisure

Cllr Geoff Jung: Minutes 85 – 92; Personal Interest: Membership of LED Community Leisure

Cllr Paul Millar: Minutes 85 – 92; Personal Interest: Membership of LED Community Leisure

None.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the Press) have been excluded. Thereare two itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

Four items were agreed to be considered in private session.

On the invitation of the Chair, nominations were put forward for vice-chair of the Forum and following a vote of those present, Cllr Paul Millar was appointed to the position.  

Charlie Plowden welcomed and introduced Rachel Fowler, from Strategic Leisure.  Charlie Plowden and Rachel Fowler presented their report, highlighting the following points:

·         The contract had been let for the Leisure and Built Facility Strategy.  The work was underway and on track for the timeline that the Forum had set for itself, following the diagnostic work. 

·         Strategic Leisure had started a series of site audits on all existing indoor leisure facilities across East Devon, and all-weather pitches.  The audits would be finished this week and would give an understanding of the quality of facilities.

·         There were all-weather pitches in the joint use centres.  Strategic Leisure’s assessment and analysis of these would be shared with planning colleagues at East Devon DC so that they could reflect that detail in the Playing Pitch Strategy.

·         Strategic Leisure had pulled together a list of stakeholders and would set up meetings with them.

·         Surveys were drafted and had started to go out to schools, clubs and parish and town councils.  Strategic Leisure had also started speaking to the national governing bodies and consultants who were doing the planning work at Cranbrook, to ensure they could link into that work.  Additionally, a meeting would be set up imminently with Active Devon.

·         Strategic Leisure would be looking to do some workshops with members as soon as possible to gather their views on vision and objectives on the strategy and what they saw as the local priorities.

Discussion of the report included:

·         In response to a question about whether climate change considerations were being factored into the work being undertaken on existing built facilities, Rachel Fowler confirmed that the climate change agenda would be taken into account.   Strategic Leisure were not doing intrusive surveys as part of the audit but would inform members of the benefits of green energy and newer technology when looking at an aging facility that was having a higher impact on the environment, if the supply and demand analysis showed that there was a case for investment or change in what was being provided.

·         In response to a question about timescales for commissioning a national Facility Planning Model (FPM) run for swimming pools and sports halls, Rachel Fowler stated that a bespoke FPM run would take approximately 3 months and the national FPM run would be carried out next year based on 2021 data.  She added that there was no FPM run carried out for 2020, due to the pandemic.  

·         It was clarified that the audit involved a qualitative assessment of each facility in East Devon including what facilities there were, their age and condition, whether they were well signposted, accessibility via public transport, and car parking arrangements.  The assessments would be presented in an appendix to the report.

·         Responding to a question about the involvement of the Planning Policy team in the relationship between the Playing Pitch Strategy and the Leisure and Built Facilities Strategy, the Planning Policy Manager stated that the previous strategy was done by the Planning Policy team, through discussion with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Peter Gilpin invited questions on his quarterly update report.

Discussion included:

·         There was a dialogue that would need to take place between the council and LED to produce a strategy which incorporated the council’s strategic priorities on health, wellbeing, leisure and sport.

·         The strategy should also link in with the council’s anti-poverty strategy, as far as was possible.

·         The LED Director of Finance confirmed that the community engagement programme already linked in with the council’s published health and wellbeing strategy.

The Forum noted the report.

The LED Director of Delivery presented his report, highlighting that further dialogue with refugee families had taken place and it was noted that:

·         A priority for families had been to get their children into schools.

·         Support was being provided concerning the use of booking systems to access the LED facilities, since these systems had been somewhat alien to refugee families.  

In discussion, the following points were made:

·         All school-age children of the Afghan refugee families were now in schools.

·         In response to a question about progress with the government’s resettlement scheme, John Golding reported that the home office had been slow on picking up on resettlement.  However, East Devon DC had put forward a few properties to the home office, who were trying to match evacuees with accommodation.

·         East Devon DC were working with colleagues at Devon County Council to support refugee families’ mental health.

·         The Forum expressed its gratitude to Cllr Joe Whibley for his work in driving forward the initiative for LED community support to the refugees.  Further thanks were expressed to LED, Exmouth Town Council and all the officers who had worked to support the refugee families.

The Forum noted the report.  

Tim child introduced his report, highlighting the following points:

·         LED properties accounted for upwards of 50% of the work of the facilities management team.

·         The report included i) introductory guidance and context concerning East Devon DC’s landlord obligations, and what this meant in practice; ii) a summary of the work and activities over the past 3 months, with background papers; and iii) a summary of capital bids put forward for this year, amounting to £3 million for 12 LED properties.

Discussion included:

·         There was an approximate ten-fold increase in in the scale of bids for LED properties this year, reflecting the need to invest.  The needs had been identified following work looking at stock condition data. 

·         Not all capital bids were expected to be approved at this stage but priorities were around energy efficiency measures, replacing kit and health and safety compliance.  This was work that would need to be done this year or next, in order to keep leisure centres operating.

·         It was recognised there had been underspending on maintenance of the buildings for some years with the consequence that some were now in suboptimal condition.  Concern was expressed around affordability given what was coming forward in East Devon DC’s financial projections.

·         Views were expressed that capital bids which did not relate to health and safety or compliance should be deferred until such time as a leisure strategy was agreed, identifying priorities.

·         Sites had a longstanding agreement going back to the 1980s whereby schools covered 40% of costs and East Devon DC 60%.  This amounted to the council subsidising statutory education provision, and needed to be renegotiated to reduce East Devon DC’s contribution and increase the contribution from schools.

The Forum noted the report.

The consultative meeting then went into private session.

Peter Gilpin introduced the Facilities and Activities Update report, highlighting the following points:

·         Confidential information would be removed from the report to enable it to be made public after the meeting.

·         A free open event had been held at Exmouth Tennis Centre over the weekend in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association; this had been well received with 669 children attending.  It was hoped that children and their families might come back to the Centre, going forward.

·         The café at Exmouth Tennis Centre had reopened for full hours.

Following discussion the Forum:

·         Noted that Exmouth Tennis Centre had used events to increase the footfall into the centre.

·         Encouraged LED to host more similar events so that the Tennis Centre continued to thrive in a sustainable manner, particularly for the benefit of families on low income in East Devon.

Peter Gilpin presented his report, highlighting the impact that the pandemic had had on Exmouth Pavilion.  It was noted that the bulk of the Pavilion’s income came from shows, the majority of which had been cancelled during 2020/21.  He added that many shows were rescheduled for 2022 and he was confident that, with investment in appropriate areas, the Pavilion would bounce back.

Discussion included:

·         Members acknowledged the difficulties of the past 18 months for the Pavilion, and thanked LED for getting it back operating and putting on shows outside.

·         The Forum recognised that the building was in need of investment, and noted that some works were essential and must be undertaken this year or next so that the facility could continue to operate.

·         Members discussed alternative options and aspirations for the future of the Pavilion and noted that the Arts and Culture Forum would be discussing the relationship between the Pavilion, Ocean and the Queens Drive space. 

The Forum asked for a report detailing options for the future of the Pavilion.

Peter Gilpin presented his report which highlighted that the Ways to Welllbeing Programme (W2W), a social prescribing scheme, would be finishing at the end of the year.  The following points were highlighted:

·         The W2W was a highly successful scheme and a Social Value report previously seen by the Forum had outlined the considerable benefits that the scheme generated.

·         The decision to close the scheme had been taken by the lead GP within the local primary care network.

·          It was understood there would be a new focus on mental health but the rationale for losing the highly successful W2W scheme was unclear. 

·         The Forum’s support for retaining the scheme was sought.

Following discussion on the programme:

·         John Golding agreed to write to the lead GP on behalf of the Forum, as a priority, expressing the Forum’s views in favour of retaining the scheme.

·         Cllr Rowland would ask the Leader to raise the matter with the local MPs; and seek  agreement to discuss the issue as an urgent item at the next meeting of Cabinet.

The Forum received and noted the details of the key performance indicators for LED Community Leisure for October 2021.