Skip to main content

Issue - meetings

Review of Leisure and Cultural Services provision

 

 

Meeting: 30/01/2024 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 35)

35 Review of Leisure and Cultural Services provision pdf icon PDF 592 KB

Summary/Purpose      

This report considers the Council’s role in contributing to healthy communities through its leisure and cultural services.

It provides updates on the delivery of the Active Cotswold leisure strategy, mobilisation of the new leisure and cultural contracts, and the Council’s work with other health and wellbeing partners.

The recently adopted playing pitch strategy is referenced and future plans and initiatives are described.

 

Recommendations

That the Committee resolves to:

1.            Consider and note the report’s content;

2.            Make recommendations to the Cabinet that could further improve the district’s leisure and cultural services offer.

 

Invited

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson, Cabinet Member for Health, Leisure and Culture

Andy Barge, Assistant Director for Communities

Jacqueline Wright, Business Manager for Leisure and Wellbeing

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Health, Leisure and Culture introduced the purpose of the report, which was to consider the Council’s role in contributing to healthy communities through its leisure and cultural services.

 

The report provided updates on the delivery of the Active Cotswold leisure strategy, mobilisation of the new leisure and cultural contract and the Council’s work with other health and wellbeing partners.

 

The recently adopted playing pitch strategy was referenced and future plans and initiatives were described.

 

The Cabinet Member provided an update to members stating that they were confident that the service provision was improving after the appointment of Freedom Leisure as the provider. The Cabinet Member also took the opportunity to highlight community based leisure initiatives such as the Mr Motivator session. The Cabinet Member also highlighted the importance of the Council’s cultural services provision.

 

The Cabinet Member thanked officers for their work.

 

The Committee discussed the report, asked questions on the various aspects of the report;

  • Questions were raised about missing information in the printed report. It was explained that this was an issue with printing the bold text which had not affected the online version.
  • Questions raised about Chipping Campden and the need for information.
  • Members asked about the Active Environment work stream, and the fact that the recruitment of a new Sustainable Transport Officer was on hold. The Cabinet Member stated that in light of financial pressures, there was no budget to replace the role in the upcoming or current financial year, but that they would discuss this with Senior Officers.
  • There was discussion on the economic value of cultural investments, and the Cabinet Member emphasised the value of this in retaining young people within the district and promoting tourism.
  • The Business Manager for Health and Wellbeing confirmed that Social Prescribers were working across their communities, including training as walking leaders and working with GPs. The Health and Wellbeing Business Manager also added that once a new Community Support Officer was appointed they would be working closely with Town and Parish Councils to do this.
  • Work was undertaken through the Community Food Programme to recognise and utilise the benefits of allotments to wellbeing.

 

As part of this, the Cabinet Member stated that written response would be circulated to the following;

  • Members discussed that references to bowls were not made in the strategy despite being a popular sport in the Cotswolds. The Cabinet Member stated that this was due to Sports England classification, and stated that a written explanation would be recirculated to Members.
  • Members asked for the costs for the capital programme of work, including figures on the capital fund required to complete works and the quotes that were behind target on page 25 of the report.
  • Members requested further detail on the 14 projects within Crowdfund Cotswold.

 

The Committee agreed to review the future performance of leisure provision against performance indicators on a yearly basis.

 

RESOLVED: To note the update and revisit the topic in a year’s time.

 

Related Pages