Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – PLACE

To consider financial assistance support for Stevenage Leisure Ltd.

NB This Item was considered following the Part 2 Item of the same name (Minute 79 refers)

The Committee Member and Scrutiny Manager undertook a roll call to ensure that all present could hear and be heard.

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Claire Strong advised that she was a member of Archers Gym and would therefore not take part in the debate or vote.

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Jim McNally advised that he regularly attended North Herts Leisure Centre and would therefore not take part in the debate and vote.

Councillor David Levett called for a recorded vote on recommendation 2.1 and a separate recorded vote on the recommendations contained in the Part 2 report.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Council supports the continued delivery of leisure facilities in the District to support the health and wellbeing of our residents;

(2)       That financial support is provided on an open-book basis to SLL to enable the leisure facilities to be open when Covid-19 restrictions allow. The support provided will reimburse any losses. The support to SLL in 2020/21 is forecast to be £2.45m (assuming the leisure facilities will now remain closed until the 31 March 2021). Future levels of support will depend on any further restrictions and the speed of recovery. It is assumed to be an additional £2m in 2021/22, but realistic scenarios show that it could be as low as £1.3m in 2021/22 (no further restrictions), or as much as £4.4m across 2021/22 (£3.1m) and 2022/23 (£1.3m).

(3)       That Council notes that the cost of not supporting SLL and closing the facilities could be as high as the cost of providing support.

(4)       That (following an initial payment to cover losses to date) payments to SLL are made on a monthly basis following submission of management accounts showing the extent of any losses. These accounts will be reviewed by the Service Director: Place in consultation with the Service Director: Resources, Executive Member for Environment and Leisure and Executive Member for Finance and IT. The affordability of payments will be kept under constant review by the Service Director: Resources, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and IT.

(5)       That Council notes that, in the event of higher levels of support being provided, budget savings in future years (2022/23 onwards) will need to be delivered more quickly than currently forecast.

REASON FOR DCISIONS: To seek approval to provide financial support on an open-book basis to SLL to enable the leisure facilities to be open when Covid-19 restrictions allow.

The recorded vote regarding Resolution (1) was as follows:

For:

Councillors: Ian Albert, Daniel Allen, Kate Aspinwall, David Barnard, Clare Billing, Judi Billing, John Bishop, Ruth Brown, Val Bryant, Paul Clark, Sam Collins, George Davies, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Morgan Derbyshire, Faye Frost, Jean Green, Simon Harwood, Terry Hone, Keith Hoskins, Mike Hughson, Tony Hunter, Steve Jarvis, David Levett, Ian Mantle, Ian Moody, Gerald Morris, Michael Muir, Lisa Nash, Sue Ngwala, Sam North, Helen Oliver, Sean Prendergast, Mike Rice, Adem Ruggiero-Cakir, Valentine Shanley, Carol Stanier, Martin Stears-Handscomb, Richard Thake and Tom Tyson.

Total For: 39

Total Against: Nil

Total Abstain: Nil

The recorded vote regarding resolutions (2), (3), (4) and (5) was as follows:

For:

Councillors: Ian Albert, Daniel Allen, Kate Aspinwall, Clare Billing, Judi Billing, Ruth Brown, Val Bryant, Paul Clark, Sam Collins, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Keith Hoskins, Mike Hughson, Steve Jarvis, Ian Mantle, Lisa Nash, Sue Ngwala, Sam North, Helen Oliver, Sean Prendergast, Adem Ruggiero-Cakir, Carol Stanier, Martin Stears-Handscomb and Tom Tyson.

Total For: 23  

Against:

Councillors: John Bishop, Gerald Morris and Michael Muir.

Total Against: 3 

Abstain:

Councillors: David Barnard, George Davies, Morgan Derbyshire, Faye Frost, Jean Green, Simon Harwood, Terry Hone, Tony Hunter, David Levett, Ian Moody, Mike Rice, Valentine Shanley and Richard Thake.

Total Abstain: 13

Audio recording – 2 hours 52 minutes 5 seconds

NB This Item was considered following the Part 2 Item of the same name (Minute 79 refers)

The Committee Member and Scrutiny Manager undertook a roll call to ensure that all present could hear and be heard.

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Claire Strong advised that she was a member of Archers Gym and would therefore not take part in the debate or vote.

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Jim McNally advised that he regularly attended North Herts Leisure Centre and would therefore not take part in the debate and vote.

The Executive Member for Environment and Leisure presented the report entitled Covid Leisure Contracts Recovery and the referral from the Cabinet meeting held on 15 December 2020 (9c)

He advised that:

·                That a further lockdown had changed expectations in respect of leisure facilities;

·                It was currently expected that the leisure facilities would be closed until the end of March 2021;

·                This meant that the level of losses would exceed the £1.8 million previously agreed by Council;

·                If this Council wished to continue to provide the valued leisure facilities then the only option was for the Council to underwrite losses.

Councillor Steve Jarvis proposed and Councillor Ian Albert seconded the recommendations contained in both the Part 1 and Part 2 reports.

Councillor David Levett called for a recorded vote on recommendation 2.1 and a separate recorded vote on the recommendations contained in the Part 2 report.

The following Members took part in the debate and asked questions:

·                Councillor Gerald Morris;

·                Councillor Steve Jarvis;

·                Councillor Ian Albert;

·                Councillor David Levett.

In response to questions the Service Director – Resources advised that in the event that SLL went into administration any money paid would be lost.

Following recorded votes as detailed below it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Council supports the continued delivery of leisure facilities in the District to support the health and wellbeing of our residents;

(2)       That financial support is provided on an open-book basis to SLL to enable the leisure facilities to be open when Covid-19 restrictions allow. The support provided will reimburse any losses. The support to SLL in 2020/21 is forecast to be £2.45m (assuming the leisure facilities will now remain closed until the 31 March 2021). Future levels of support will depend on any further restrictions and the speed of recovery. It is assumed to be an additional £2m in 2021/22, but realistic scenarios show that it could be as low as £1.3m in 2021/22 (no further restrictions), or as much as £4.4m across 2021/22 (£3.1m) and 2022/23 (£1.3m).

(3)       That Council notes that the cost of not supporting SLL and closing the facilities could be as high as the cost of providing support.

(4)       That (following an initial payment to cover losses to date) payments to SLL are made on a monthly basis following submission of management accounts showing the extent of any losses. These accounts will be reviewed by the Service Director: Place in consultation with the Service Director: Resources, Executive Member for Environment and Leisure and Executive Member for Finance and IT. The affordability of payments will be kept under constant review by the Service Director: Resources, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and IT.

(5)       That Council notes that, in the event of higher levels of support being provided, budget savings in future years (2022/23 onwards) will need to be delivered more quickly than currently forecast.

REASON FOR DCISIONS: To seek approval to provide financial support on an open-book basis to SLL to enable the leisure facilities to be open when Covid-19 restrictions allow.

The recorded vote regarding Resolution (1) was as follows:

For:

Councillors: Ian Albert, Daniel Allen, Kate Aspinwall, David Barnard, Clare Billing, Judi Billing, John Bishop, Ruth Brown, Val Bryant, Paul Clark, Sam Collins, George Davies, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Morgan Derbyshire, Faye Frost, Jean Green, Simon Harwood, Terry Hone, Keith Hoskins, Mike Hughson, Tony Hunter, Steve Jarvis, David Levett, Ian Mantle, Ian Moody, Gerald Morris, Michael Muir, Lisa Nash, Sue Ngwala, Sam North, Helen Oliver, Sean Prendergast, Mike Rice, Adem Ruggiero-Cakir, Valentine Shanley, Carol Stanier, Martin Stears-Handscomb, Richard Thake and Tom Tyson.

Total For: 39

Total Against: Nil

Total Abstain: Nil

The recorded vote regarding resolutions (2), (3), (4) and (5) was as follows:

For:

Councillors: Ian Albert, Daniel Allen, Kate Aspinwall, Clare Billing, Judi Billing, Ruth Brown, Val Bryant, Paul Clark, Sam Collins, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg, Keith Hoskins, Mike Hughson, Steve Jarvis, Ian Mantle, Lisa Nash, Sue Ngwala, Sam North, Helen Oliver, Sean Prendergast, Adem Ruggiero-Cakir, Carol Stanier, Martin Stears-Handscomb and Tom Tyson.

Total For: 23  

Against:

Councillors: John Bishop, Gerald Morris and Michael Muir.

Total Against: 3 

Abstain:

Councillors: David Barnard, George Davies, Morgan Derbyshire, Faye Frost, Jean Green, Simon Harwood, Terry Hone, Tony Hunter, David Levett, Ian Moody, Mike Rice, Valentine Shanley and Richard Thake.

Total Abstain: 13