Issue - meetings

(Leisure & Community Services Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report.

Mover: Councillor H Kane, Leisure and Community Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor H Kane submitted a report regarding the award of the contract for the  Management of the Council’s Leisure Facilities.

Report as first moved ADOPTED

            RESOLVED:

That, on the basis of the Final Evaluation of the Tender Submissions and Financial Implications for the Council, the award of the contract for the management of the Council’s Leisure Facilities to Places for People Leisure Management Limited be approved as the preferred bidder, with SLM Everyone Active as reserve.

(Leisure & Community Services Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached restricted report (C-048-2016/17).

(1)        That the recommendation of the Portfolio Holder Advisory Group to award Places for People Leisure Management Ltd preferred bidder status, and Sports and Leisure Management Ltd (SLM Every One Active) to be designated reserve bidder, be agreed;

(2)        That, on the basis of the Final Evaluation of the Tender Submissions and Financial Implications for the Council, the Award of the Contract for the management of the Council’s Leisure Facilities to Places for People Leisure Management Limited be recommended to the Council for approval;

(3)        That, following the granting of outline Planning Permission for the new Waltham Abbey Leisure Centre at Hillhouse, the funding of the Section 106 Legal Agreement contribution of £137,000 to re-provide off-site compensatory playing pitch provision from within the Council’s Capital Programme be agreed; and       

(4)        That the option to provide users with one hours free car parking at Loughton Leisure Centre at a cost of £90,000 per annum be rejected, but further discussions be entered into with the preferred Bidder to ascertain if any future parking concessions were possible at no cost to the Council.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Community Services presented a report on the award of the contract for the management of the Council’s Leisure Facilities.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that, in December 2014, the Council had adopted a new Leisure and Cultural Strategy, which identified future need and the role that the District Council should play in the provision of opportunities for people to lead healthier lives, contribute to community wellbeing and provide social cohesion. The most significant direct investment in Leisure by the District Council, was the four Sports/Leisure Centres managed under contract on the Council’s behalf, by Sports and Leisure Management Ltd (SLM).  As the 10 year contract with SLM was due to expire in January 2016 (subsequently extended to April 2017), the Council had been engaged in a competitive procurement exercise to appoint a new external management partner, in order to deliver the Council’s Key Objectives, with respect to the management of its Leisure Facilities.

The Portfolio Holder detailed the procurement process followed, including the establishment of a Portfolio Holder Advisory Group and the use of Competitive Dialogue as a methodology. The Council had appointed an external consultant to assist with the procurement process, which consisted of three distinct phases. On considering the results of the final evaluation, the Advisory Group was recommending to the Cabinet that Places for People Leisure (Bidder B) be awarded preferred bidder status and that SLM Everyone Active (Bidder C) be designated reserve bidder. The Cabinet was requested to recommend accordingly to the Council to make the Final Award decision at its meeting scheduled for 20 December 2016.

The Portfolio Holder stated that the Council had previously decided to replace Waltham Abbey Swimming Pool, which despite being a popular community facility, had reached the end of its economic life. A project team involving representatives from the District Council, Essex County Council and NHS England had been developing a proposal for a new Community Hub, comprising of a new Leisure Centre, Health Centre and Independent Living Scheme for the Elderly at Hillhouse. The Leisure Management Contractors have been tasked with the Design, Build, Operation and Management of the new facilities, and all three bidders had produced exciting designs for the new Leisure Centre. Outline Planning Permission for the whole Community Hub (to include the Leisure Centre) was granted on 30 November 2016. As part of the consultation on the Hillhouse planning application, Sports England had required a Section 106 Legal Agreement to be entered into to provide compensatory facilities for the loss of some of the open space;  the Council’s share of this cost was £137,000 which would be found from within the Capital Programme.

The Portfolio Holder reported that the bidders were also asked to submit a variant bid which identified the cost to the Council of free Parking for one hour at Loughton Leisure Centre. This had resulted from the concerns raised by users as parking was free at all of the Council’s other leisure facilities. The cost proposals of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider the attached report (LMC-004-2016/17).

The Director of Neighbourhoods informed the meeting that a lot of the information had been relayed to members at their recent briefing. They were looking to formulate a recommendation to put to the Cabinet meeting and then on to full council for the awarding of the contract for the management of the Council’s Leisure Services.

R Thompson from RTP Consulting gave a presentation on the final tender evaluations. This stage was where the bidders submitted their best and final offer.  All three bidders submitted affordable tenders and following further dialogue and clarification one was selected as the preferred and one the reserve bidder. He presented the results of the Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (ISFT). The meeting noted that their recommendation to award a contract would go to Cabinet on 1 December 2016 and then to Council on 15 December 2016.

Some of the key outcomes were on facility investment, such as the redevelopment of the Waltham Abbey Pool, investment in the Epping and the Ongar Sports Centres and investment in the Loughton Leisure Centre. Also looked at was service delivery and their financial investment, such as securing Capital Investment, improving the revenue position and the surplus share of profits.

Officers evaluated the various criteria on services such as on outcomes, quality/customer care, operational delivery, sports development, staffing, health and safety and on technical matters, such as development/design, planning risk, design and maintenance proposals and their environmental approach. Also, on commercial matters such as usage, expenditure and revenues, affordability, contract acceptance, capital costs, delivery and risks. These were evaluated and rated using a scoring system from 0 to 5. Zero being unacceptable and five being excellent.

It was noted that all three bidders were established operators with experience of delivering development schemes and were within affordability levels presented by the Council. They had all submitted plans for the redevelopment of Waltham Abbey and also significant investment in health and fitness in Loughton and to refresh and enhance health and fitness in Epping and Ongar. They also provided indicative revenue projections for the new North Weald Leisure Centre.

For Waltham Abbey, all bidders proposed 6 lane, 25 metre pool plus learner pool, enhanced health and fitness plus two studios and a community room. They took into account the planning statement linked to shopping precinct, plus the provision of parking.  The three bidders also provided different designs solutions for the leisure centres.

All three bidders proposed significant increase in participation and to focus on GP referrals and health support sessions along with prioritising the young and the elderly, while retaining the existing pricing in accordance with specifications.

The bidders also provided a financial overview of their bids providing savings on existing services of between £0.8m and £1million per annum. Indicative car parking costs were also taken into account, although all costs were considered to be indicative at this stage.

Taking the detailed bids into consideration and applying officers evaluated and scored using the established system. The resulting totals were as follows:

·         Bidder  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9