BURNING QUESTION WHAT’S THE FUTURE FOR
LOCAL AUTHORITY LEISURE? Following the Comprehensive Spending Review in October, local authorities now know the full extent of the cuts needed. Kath Hudson speaks to the experts to find out how they are planning to safeguard leisure
E
veryone looks set to feel the pinch as the coalition government aims to bring
the structural deficit down to zero by the 2015/16 financial year, but what does this mean for the future of local authority leisure? Do non-statutory leisure depart- ments still have a future? October’s Comprehensive Spending Review set out reduc- tions in local authority funding of around 7.1 per cent each year for the next four years. Funding from quangos is set to diminish, which will have a further negative impact. Sport England received a 33 per cent cut; UK Sport 28 per cent; English Heritage 32 per cent; VisitBritain 34 per cent; and the Arts Council received a 29 per cent cut over the next four years. Now the pressure is on for lei-
sure services departments to communicate the benefits of lei- sure to those involved in health and social care sectors.
CRAIG MCATEER
Managing director Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust
There will be severe efficiency savings and I think we’re facing an unpre- cendented closure of leisure facilities, as well as price increases. It’s time to think outside the box.
But it’s not all doom and gloom.
There is now the opportunity to pool resources and share services. It will lead to other avenues for providing and commissioning services. Local authorities will need to look at working more closely with the third sector and voluntary community sector to explore partnerships in coaching and possible running of museums and libraries. Going forward, there is a future in co-location. Putting services in one place drives efficiencies and customer experience and maximises space. In Rochdale, we offer health screening in libraries and pilates in the museum. Local authorities will need to bring innovation into programmes and involve
IAN COOPER
Director Ian Cooper Associates
In recent years we’ve been able to prove the value of leisure interven- tions to commissioners of services – especially in the health and adult social care sectors – so I think culture and sport managers are well placed to hold their own in these difficult times. After the golden years of big budgets and high status in the 1970s and early 1980s, local authority leisure has had to keep evolving, as both budgets and status have changed. The introduction of Compulsory Competitive Tendering
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at the end of the 1990s heralded the creation of contractors and trusts, with many senior leisure authority manag- ers migrating from in house teams. The 1990s saw a couple of boosts to the sector, with the National Lottery and the government’s support for Local Cultural Strategies. The 2000s have been a period of continuous cost-cut- ting, endless performance indicators and increasing externalisation, espe- cially to trusts. Good results in Audit Commission inspections and spe- cific inclusion as a CPA Core Service boosted service status, but council restructures have led to a serious loss of status for leisure in many councils. Going forward, the third sector has always recognised the value of our
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the trust sector and social enterprise. The cuts will mean that we will have to be smarter about how we offer pro- grammes. Commissioners will need to find out exactly what local people want. There will need to be more partner- ships and the pooling of resources and budgets. Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust has just won the Municipal Journal 2010 Public Private Partnership Achievement of the Year, because we do have partnerships at the highest strategic level, driven by partners on the Local Strategic Partnership Board. In terms of trying to protect leisure and cultural services, it will become necessary to offer a cross-cutting service, which is not just about lei- sure, but engages with other issues, such as working with vulnerable peo- ple, children and diverse communities. We provide free entertainment and a place to meet on Friday nights for young people in Rochdale and the impact of how this helped the commu- nity, in terms of nuisance going down, was calculated to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
services and we are well placed to support the government’s Big Society initiatives. Leisure departments will need to be led by a well-trained profes- sional, working with an enthusiastic, motivated councillor, to support our services politically. Shared services and strengthened third sector partner- ships will be the way forward. More councils will move culture and
sport services to Not for Profit organi- sations, including Community Interest Companies. There’s a continuing need to undertake analyses of local need and reviews of service delivery. I think public opinion will prevent an epidemic of facility closures, but I do foresee a rationalisation of facilities and any new builds are likely to be multi-use.
ISSUE 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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