Minutes:
Click here to view the recording of this item on You Tube
Councillor Ring introduced the report which he explained had been one of the items he wished to be brought forward. He drew attention to the fact that the VAT opportunities which were in place when the Company was set up had now closed removing the financial advantages of it. He drew attention to the fact that the leisure service was key to tackling the Borough’s health inequalities and raising aspirations in accordance with the Corporate Plan.
Councillor Ring also clarified a comment he had made in the Environment and Community Panel regarding Alive West Norfolk being unwieldy and inefficient, he was not referring to the staff, but the operating model.
The Governance Manager presented the detail of the report which explained that the Council established Alive West Norfolk (AWN) in 2018. It had been trading as a Local Authority Controlled Company (LACC) since July 2019. The Cabinet report which proposed the setting up of AWN outlined a number of aspirations for the company. After five years of trading these aspirations remain challenging, largely as a result of the difficult external environment, coupled with the need for investment in aging facilities.
The report explained that AWN continued to require substantial council subsidy, and this was projected to increase in the coming years. AWN had not received capital investment grants from the council to make the required improvements to the facilities. At the same time there was an urgent need to seek major capital investment in the venues.
The council had previously agreed to increase the independence of the company’s board which potentially created an unsustainable position for the council of increasing cost, reducing control, possible limitations on contributions to council corporate priorities and the growing risks of failure to secure capital investment to renew the venues. Alongside this, the Authority had key corporate objectives around health and wellbeing, to include reducing health inequalities which would be supported by closer integration between staff employed by the council and AWN employees. This together with impending changes in Senior Management at the council, and the recent retirement of the AWN Managing Director called for consideration of alternative management options.
The report assessed four options for the future operating model for AWN – an independent trust, tendering to external operators, continuing with the LACC model and in-house council management.
The conclusion was that the first two options would give no better outcomes than the current model (at least for now) and the existing model was unlikely to substantially improve the financial and policy outcomes for the council, mainly due to external forces. It was therefore recommended that in-house management by the council with AWN staff TUPE’d to the Authority was the best option for the foreseeable future.
It was explained that at this stage, if agreed, the reporting line/s for the existing Alive WN staff and facilities had not been agreed, but would be considered when the new Chief Executive had the chance to review the overall structures.
The Cabinet in considering the report decided it would need to discuss exempt information so agreed to further consider the report in exempt session. Before doing so the Chair read out the recommendations contained within the report.