Since the contract began in 2015, participation has increased significantly, facilities have been improved and the long-term sustainability of the service is now secure.
In 2014, Mendip District Council advertised an opportunity to enter into a long-term leasehold agreement on its five leisure facilities. The decision to go out to tender was driven by a desire to ensure the sustainability of good-quality facilities for local communities and increase participation. At the time, the facilities received an annual subsidy of more than £850,000. There was a backlog of maintenance liabilities of around £5 million.
The council established a leisure transformation board with the objective of finding a financially sustainable future for the facilities. There was strong cross-political support from the start, both for the ambition and the approach. Tender applications were received from a range of operators. In June 2015, Fusion, an experienced charitable leisure trust, entered into a 50-year lease for each of the five facilities.
The contract included all repair and maintenance liabilities being passed to Fusion at that point. The annual subsidy from Mendip District Council was reduced significantly in the first year and will be zero by 2018/19. From then on, Fusion will pay a small rental fee to the council for the five leisure facilities.
Impact and outcomes
There were four key objectives at the heart of the partnership.
1. Capital investment: the first two years focused on Fusion’s planned capital investments – principally to address the maintenance liabilities and make improvements. To date there has been £3.2 million of capital investment in the facilities, with significant improvement projects at two leisure centres.
2. Participation: community participation is a mutual agreed objective. Almost 800,000 visits were recorded in 2016/17, up from about 490,000 in 2015/16.
3. Customer satisfaction: each of the nine customer satisfaction areas has shown significant increases since the start of the partnership.
4. Target-group participation: there is a specific focus on increasing participation among six demographic groups, aligned with the council’s priorities and Fusion’s charitable objectives:
- under 16s (participation increased by 158 per cent in two years)
- 16-19 year olds (increased 112 per cent)
- older adults aged 60-plus (increased 34 per cent)
- black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (increased 225 per cent)
- disabled people (increased 225 per cent)
- women (increased 78 per cent).
Fusion has listened to local communities and, as a result, has been able to provide successful new activities. Examples include ‘Parkour’ at Wells Leisure Centre, which targets 12-19 year olds in engaging sessions of high-intensity activity on Saturday afternoons, with 20-40 young people attending each week.
For older adults, their timed swimming sessions are now protected during the school holidays. In the past, these sessions were cancelled as they had become impractical to operate.
Simple attention to detail during the refurbishments has also helped to increase participation, such as adding hand rails to assist the less mobile and lower-level hand weights in the gym to suit the less able. Fusion maintains discounts on fees and charges for certain demographic groups as part of the partnership arrangements.
Looking to the future
Two years into the contract, the delivery outcomes are strengthening and the facilities improving. A solid working relationship has been established between Fusion and Mendip District Council. Crucial to this has been the positive engagement and support of councillors, with regular strategic management board meetings taking place between Fusion, councillors and senior officers. These meetings underpin the council’s ongoing role as a local leader in improving the health and wellbeing of residents, as well as fostering a service of community.
From the council’s perspective, there have been three key achievements:
- the financial outcome, in terms of supporting long-term sustainable leisure services while reducing subsidies, has been achieved
- significant risks and liabilities have been transferred to Fusion, both in terms of operational and capital investment
- the leisure offer to local communities, particularly those from the target groups, has been materially improved.
Key learning points
- Be innovative and enable creativethinking.
- Ensure there is a close-knit team committed to working hard to overcome obstacles and pursuing the project to a successful conclusion. Listen to the needs of your community.
- Legal advice from a lawyer who understood the drivers and embraced the ambition of the project was important.
- Commit to a long-term vision for the partnership.
Contact
Tim Mills
Director of Business Development
Fusion Lifestyle
or
Donna Nolan
Deputy Chief Executive
Mendip District Council
[email protected]