Agenda and minutes

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting. No declarations were made.

Mr Terrence Reynolds, a local resident, asked three questions regarding the Oasis Leisure Centre Commissioning arrangements. At the Chair’s invitation, the Council’s Head of Property Services responded to Mr Reynolds’ questions. It was agreed that a written response should be provided to Mr Reynolds’ third question, concerning monies being paid by the new leaseholders, once he provided more precise details of the information that he was seeking.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th September 2014.

Resolved – (1) That the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th September 2014 be confirmed and signed.

(2) That, in response to a question put by Councillor Toby Elliott at the meeting on 15 September, it be noted that 63 Council houses had been sold to tenants under the Right To Buy scheme over the period of the last year. That a written response be sought to a question put by Councillor Maureen Penny, at an earlier meeting, regarding the leisure centres transfer and the cost and details of outstanding backlog maintenance works.

The Committee received a report reviewing the commissioning procedure utilised by the Council in relation to the transfer of the Oasis Leisure Centre. It was noted that the transfer of the Oasis Leisure Centre had been progressed to achieve the following One Swindon and Corporate Objectives: 

·        “Improve health and wellbeing for all by increasing and widening participation in sports, leisure and culture.”

·        “More young people are supported to take part in sports, leisure and culture.”

·        “We can all benefit from a growing economy.”

·        “I like where I live.”

·        “Make best use of Swindon’s resources inside and outside the Council.”

The report sought to identify good practice within the overall transfer process that might be adopted elsewhere in the Council and also any lessons that might have been be learnt from the process.

Councillor Garry Perkins, Cabinet Member for Economy, Regeneration & Skills, introduced the report, summarising the background to this initiative to enhance district leisure facilities, through either the refurbishment and improvement of the existing facilities or by the provision of a new build facility, and took the Committee through the various elements of the commissioning process. Councillor Perkins summarised the particular areas of good practice that had been identified in relation to the process and experiences that might positively influence the on-going and future transfer of other Council leisure services and facilities.

Following his presentation of the report, Councillor Perkins, supported by the Head of Property Assets and other officers, responded to questions put by members of the Committee and by Councillor Des Moffatt on the issues raised, both in the report and in the presentation, including:

·        The level of cross party support for the transfer of the Oasis Leisure Centre.

·        The Cabinet Member’s level of involvement in establishing the commissioning procedure utilised in relation to the transfer of the Oasis Leisure Centre.

·        The application of best practice to the commissioning process and the Cabinet Member’s assessment of where such application had proven to be most successful.

·        The composition of the cross-party working group established to oversee the commissioning process.

·        The effectiveness of due diligence in relation to the parties invited to submit proposals, in light of the necessity for the deed of variation subsequently required by the winning bidder to facilitate access to working capital.

o   Due diligence in relation to new or recently-founded companies.

o   The funding arrangements for the improvement of the Oasis Leisure Centre and the effectiveness of the commissioning process in identifying potential problems that might be associated with a developer’s ability to access working capital.

o   The decision to remove from the Business Transfer Agreement (BTA) the Council’s ability to “buy-back” the facility.

·        The performance of the winning bidder in relation to the achievement of milestones in the BTA for the delivery of key activity and allegations that monies owing to local businesses had not been paid.

·        The efficacy of using delegated authority and the Cabinet Member Briefing Note process to authorise the variations to the BTA (referred to in paragraph 3.15 of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Councillor Garry Perkins, Cabinet Member for Economy, Regeneration and Skills, was in attendance and presented a detailed report summarising progress and performance in respect of each of the following service areas within his portfolio of responsibility:

·        Economic Development, Regeneration (except Wichelstowe and Village Centres project) and Forward Swindon Limited (FSL) Client Lead Member

·        Museums, including Steam

·        Arts and Culture

·        Specific responsibility for Lydiard Park Project

·        Superfast Broadband

·        Strategic Property Portfolio

·        Changes to the Borough’s boundaries to support economic development

·        Lifelong Learning

·        Tertiary education

·        Skills.

At the request of the Chair, Councillor Perkins, in his presentation of the report, commented specifically on those elements within his portfolio that he felt had been most successful, those where a different approach might have produced better results and the lessons that might have been learned as a consequence, and the challenges he expected to be faced by the Council relation to these service areas in the coming year and beyond, particularly in relation to on-going budgetary constraints.

Following his presentation of the report, Councillor Perkins responded to members’ specific questions and observations on following issues raised in the presentation and also in the accompanying report:

·        The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Relocation Project and work that has been done in relation to the proposed future replacement of the Wyvern Theatre.

·         Superfast broadband provision in Swindon and the online consultation with service providers.

·         The promotion of music and cultural events in Swindon, particularly events at the Wyvern Theatre and the Arts Centre.

·         The status of the Bus Exchange and retail kiosk agreements.

·         The re-location of Swindon Shop Mobility in Sanford House.

·         The Council’s bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in relation to the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Relocation project and other agreed and potential funding sources for the project.

·         The Apprentice Start Data annexed to the report and comparison of that data with regional and national statistics.

·         The anticipated timeframe for the submission of planning applications in relation to the Kimmerfields regeneration scheme and for completion of the Muse development and options available to the Council in the event that Muse choose not to proceed with the development.

·         The May 2015 deadline for the submission of a planning application for the development of the former Clare’s site and the options available to the Council in the event that such application is not forthcoming.

·         The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership process and the business case for a future bid for funding for Higher Education facilities.

·         Superfast broadband and measures in place to ensure the successful outcome of on-going provision negotiations.

·         The Museum re-location project funding and implications for the Wyvern re-development.

·         The future provision of a concert hall attraction in Swindon and the proposed scale of such attraction.

·         Accessibility issues relating to the re-development of the Wyvern site.

·         The security arrangements and safety of the Clare’s site.

·         Forward Swindon performance and the sources of the level of secured private sector investment (referred to in Appendix 5 to the report).

·         STEAM museum as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Committee received a report providing an update on the Scrutiny work programme for 2014/15, including a proposal by the Chair that a cross-party Task Group should be established to review the processes followed by the various relevant agencies in response to the fire at the Averies Recycling Centre. It was noted that the purpose of the Task Group was to provide a report to Council in response to the motion, agreed at its meeting on the 18th September 2014, inviting the Scrutiny Committee to “review the Local Resilience Forum’s independent, multi-agency debrief of the Averies Fire incident.”

            Resolved – (1) That the work programme update report be noted.

            (2) That, in compliance with the agreed motion at the Council meeting on 18^th September 2014, a Task Group, comprising Councillors Dempsey, Pajak, Elliott, Matthews, Weisinger and Penny, be established to review the Local Resilience Forum’s independent, multi-agency debrief of the Averies Fire incident and to submit a review report to a public meeting of the Scrutiny Committee (to be arranged).