Agenda item

To consider the annual report in relation to the New Forest Leisure Partnership with Freedom Leisure operating five leisure centres in the District.

The Contract Relationship Officer introduced the four representatives from Freedom Leisure who were in attendance at the meeting as follows; Peter Cheeseman, National Commercial Manager, Matt Wickham, Chief Operations Officer, Samantha Isherwood, Area Manager for the New Forest contract and Paul Doyle, Regional Manager for the South Region.

A presentation was given to the Panel providing an overview of performance of the Partnership over the 2023/24 financial year.  This included:

·         Objectives and purpose of the partnership, for example to increase levels of participation, support to active communities and to reduce negative environmental impacts;

·         Health and fitness memberships had increased by 1,700 over the last 12 months, which was positive news;

·         Swim lesson subscriptions had increased to just under 4,800, with a utilisation of approximately 79% across the sites;

·         There had been investment of just over £3.8 million into three capital projects with gym refurbishments in Applemore, Totton and New Milton.  Each of these had seen an increase in membership and an additional fitness instructor resource had been provided;

·         Healthy communities: this supported those in the community, following a GP referral.  Examples of the types of classes provided included chair yoga and health circuits.  The level of participation had increased by over 2,600 in the last year.  Freedom leisure worked with over 30 GP practices to encourage and drive more people to use the service.  A new membership category had also been introduced for ante-natal swimming, which cost £20 for a year and was proving to be successful;

·         Customer experience data: this had been collected and broken down into complaints, compliments and comments / suggestions.  Complaints had decreased over the last 12 months.  This was positive news, particularly as there had been an increase in the number of customers using the services; 

·         Utilities and gas usage over the last year had decreased.  Air Source Heat Pumps had been installed in a number of the leisure centres which supported environmental goals.  Grant funding for year 4 had been secured from the swimming pool support fund.  It was highlighted to the Panel that when Freedom Leisure had submitted a bid for the contract, the cost of utilities was expected to be £47,000 for gas and electricity.  However, the actual costs were significantly higher at £922,000 per annum.  Support had been provided to help with the cost of this by the District Council;

·         Participation levels had increased by half a million customers from year one.  There were currently around 28,000 customer visits a month;

·         Charity work was outlined with £2,500 raised as part of the Wear it Pink campaign for breast cancer.  A Christmas present campaign had been held which had resulted in over 1,000 being donated to children spending Christmas in hospital;

·         The financial performance was presented to the Panel.  Last year there had been a loss of £320,000 and it was expected that the contract would break even for the 2024/25 financial year.  This was considered to be good news.

·         The objectives for 2024/25 were detailed.  This included Lymington gym refurbishment which had recently been completed.

Members noted that the participation levels had increased and questioned whether there had been any problems with customers accessing equipment in the gyms as a result.  In response, it was noted that consideration had been taken when designing the gyms to cater for popular equipment based on the current trends and demographics.  It was acknowledged that at peak times, the number of customers could be challenging but no more than expected.

A question was asked regarding whether the demographics of members had changed as a result of the increased number of membership subscriptions.  It was noted that there had not been any significant change, however there was a slight increase in the younger customer base using the refurbished gyms, particularly in Totton.

The Panel noted that Freedom Leisure had been working to reduce their energy consumption by installing solar panels, using £112,000 of funding from the swimming pool support fund.  New initiatives would be considered in order to drive down the cost of utilities further.  Strap bands had been installed which drives hot air back down onto the water in the swimming pools and shower restrictors had been installed to reduce water consumption. 

One Panel member requested the performance information and data in relation to the Totton Health and Leisure Centre.  It was agreed that this would be provided outside of the meeting.

A member questioned the methods used to increase membership.  A range of methods were used, including digital and marketing plans.  It was highlighted that following the gym refurbishment in Lymington, leaflets had been distributed to residents living within three miles of the leisure centre to promote the new gym facilities with a 3-day membership offer.  There were also local plans to encourage membership, with outreach work, for example at the New Forest Show and New Milton Family Fun day.