Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles introduced the report which sought Council approval of providing cost certainty on the main project to deliver the revised programme of improvements to Leisure-at-Cheltenham.

She explained that further to Council’s decision in March 2017 to agree the proposed works and financing arrangements, the Cheltenham Trust had worked with its development partner Alliance Leisure Services to advance the scheme within the agreed financial framework. After work to further define the project it was clear that project costs would be higher but that these would be mitigated by a greater impact for customers and increases in income against a revised business plan. The original model presented to Council was based on the Trust delivering the project through a loan from the council. This method of project delivery would have incurred VAT which meant fewer improvements would have been delivered. A preferred method was now proposed whereby the council contracted Alliance Leisure Services. In doing so the VAT would be recoverable and the project would deliver greater public benefit for the cost incurred. The revised report thus provided cost certainty on the main project ad the benefits were laid out in paragraph 2.7 of the report. This would provide not only a good facility but also addressed the council’s concerns on financing and the future of Leisure-at-Cheltenham as a growing concern.

When asked whether some cost increases related to existing work where costs had changed the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles explained that the new work related to entrance at Leisure@ whereby customers would use the gym for an hour with the use of other facilities for free.

In response to a question as to whether the council required a surveyor on site for every day at a cost of £30k the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles felt that this was necessary as no decisions should be taken without the council being made fully aware of them. It would provide the council with an assurance that there would be a person there to report back to the joint commissioning group in the best interest of the Trust, the council and users over time.

Concern was expressed that there were a significant number of risks and wished to ensure that the Overview and Scrutiny committee undertook to scrutinise the project as outlined in paragraph 6.3 of the report. In response the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny undertook to raise this with the lead Members of O&S which were due to meet the following day. The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles added that Members should understand the cost certainty and how risk was regarded at all levels.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT

1.    Subject to the conditions in section 7 being met, the Section 151 Officer be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member Finance, to seek prudential borrowing of up to £2.236m at an interest rate of 2% per annum to fund the improvements to Leisure-at-Cheltenham as detailed in Section 3 of this report;

2.    The Section 151 Officer be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles, to agree the most advantageous repayment methodology to reclaim the cost of the borrowing from the Cheltenham Trust;