Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Committee agreedto consider the minutes of the previous meeting as a matter of urgency as they had not been finalised at the time the agenda was printed and circulated.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rules 17, 15 and 16 (Part 4B of the Constitution) respectively.

(if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that no references had been received.

The report of the Corporate Director of Environment and Community Services will be included on the Cabinet agenda for 17 March 2011.  This is the report that will be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, so Members are asked to bring the March Cabinet agenda (which will be published on 9 March 2011) with them to this meeting.

The Chairman welcomed Marianne Locke, Divisional Director of Community and Culture, Richard Hawtin, Interim Head of Procurement, Councillor Idaikkadar, Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts, Councillor Rekha Shah, Portfolio Holder for Community and Culture, to the meeting.

Members agreed that a report, which had just become available, entitled ‘Leisure Facilities Management Contract’ be considered as a matter of urgency in order that the Committee’s comments could be submitted to Cabinet on 17 March 2011.  Members received the report of the Divisional Director of Community and Cultural Services, which set out the procurement and evaluation processes undertaken for the award of an interim two year contract for the management of the Council’s leisure facilities.  The Chairman drew Members’ attention to the Part II appendix which detailed the tender evaluation data and the Committee agreed that they would only exclude any press and public present if it became necessary to discuss the detail of the appendix during the course of the meeting.

The Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts introduced the report and advised that the current contract with Leisure Connection was due to end on 31 March 2011.  He advised that following Cabinet on 13 January 2011, officers had reported to Portfolio Holders on their ongoing discussions with that contractor. Officers, as a result of those discussions, had come to the view that it was likely that a more financially advantageous offer could be obtained by procuring an interim two year contract and the Portfolio Holders had requested that officers proceed on this basis.  The Portfolio Holder concluded that this appeared to have been a good decision and congratulated officers on the achievement of savings in such a short timeframe.

Whilst Members were of the view that the Council was now in a good position in that Greenwich Leisure Ltd offered a good deal, they did have concerns as to the process following the Cabinet decision of 13 January 2011.  In considering the report, Members asked questions and made comments, which were responded to as follows:

·                     A Member questioned as to how it was proposed to increase usage at the Leisure Centre.  The Divisional Director advised that usage was one of the measures that had been used to test all tenders. Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) had provided key performance indicators and was experienced, as were all the tenderers, in driving up performance.  It was felt that GLL had provided sufficient information to indicate that they could increase usage.

·                     In terms of the kind of usage expected of a successful Leisure Centre, the Divisional Director advised that she could provide the Member with figures but that Leisure Centre usage was seasonal.  All of the contractors had indicated that they could increase footfall.

·                     A Member challenged the accuracy of the report to Cabinet in January 2011, the process following that meeting and its transparency.  He drew Members’ attention to the minutes of that meeting. He acknowledged that a new Interim Head of Procurement was now in post which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 108.

RESOLVED:  That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item for the reasons set out below:

RESOLVED: That the appendix be noted.