Decision details

RESOLVED:           1)       That the governance and operation of Alive West Norfolk is returned to in-house council management under a management structure which will need to be considered as part of any review of senior level resourcing requirements, to be undertaken by the new Chief Executive.

2)             That the new arrangements be put in place by 1^st January 2025 with an implementation deadline of April 2025

3)             That a budget of £20,000 be set aside to cover one-off set up costs (changes to ICT systems etc) related to the transfer of the service to an in-house provision.

5)             That the negotiations for the termination of the Management Agreement with the Alive West Norfolk Board of Directors be delegated to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Business and Culture and the council’s AWN Client Officer.

6)             That all necessary powers and authority to implement the transfer be delegated to the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, the Portfolio Holder for Business and Culture and the council’s Client Officer.

7)             That a separate report to consider capital investment proposals for the leisure facilities come to a future cabinet meeting.

Reason for Decision

A key priority of the council as outlined in the Corporate Strategy 2023-2027 is to provide access to leisure, cultural and outreach experiences, to reduce isolation, to improve the health and wellbeing of our communities and to reduce health and social inequalities. The cost of providing leisure and cultural services continues to rise and the leisure facilities require substantial investment and improvement. Returning these services to an in-house function will enable the council to directly influence and control this essential service, to plan for capital investment and benefit from simplifying the operational management of AWN, eliminating client officer and Shareholder costs