Issue - meetings

South Holland Centre Task Group Final Report

 

 

Meeting: 04/05/2022 - Joint Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel (Item 16)

16 South Holland Centre Task Group Final Report

To consider the final report of the South Holland Centre Task Group (report of Councillor B Alcock, Chairman of the South Holland Centre Task Group enclosed).

(Please note that the appendices B and C to this report are not for publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)) in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and are therefore attached to this agenda as item 7.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the South Holland Centre Task Group, which presented its Final Report to the Joint Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel for consideration. 

 

The Chairman of the Task Group, Councillor B Alcock introduced the report – he thanked all members of the Task Group, officers that had supported the process and all those individuals who had given evidence.

 

Members considered the report and the following issues were raised:

 

·         It was noted that an external consultant had been appointed to oversee the re-opening of the Centre – was the consultant still in post?

  • It was confirmed that this had been a temporary appointment until a manager was in place.  The external consultant was no longer employed as a manager was now in place.

 

·         The term ‘caterers’ had been used throughout the report however, it was not felt that this was an appropriate term to apply to the situation that had been in place until recently.  ‘In-house’ or ‘on-site restaurant’ should be used instead, to clearly reflect the situation as it was.

 

·         Paragraph 6.14 within the report stated ‘The Task Group found difficulty in understanding the management structure and identifying where the overall responsibility actually resided.  As the authority had been trying to minimise the financial support, it is surprising that the governance and scrutiny arrangements have been felt to be satisfactory for so long’ – it was felt that this paragraph summed up much of what the current issues were.

  • The Chairman of the Task Group responded that the statement within the final report, that operating the Centre should be undertaken more akin to running a business than operating a service, summed up what the Authority needed to consider.  A subtle, rather than a dramatic change was required to change the emphasis going forward.

 

·         Running the Centre as a business seemed a good idea however, it seemed that the direction of travel had been established prior to the formation of the Task Group.

  • The Chairman of the Task Group confirmed that this was not the Task Group’s recommendation currently, as the Authority had already considered the future and made radical changes, especially with regard to the number of employees at the Centre.  The decision had been to try and run the venue in a similar way as before, but with lower overheads.  If Cabinet decided that the alternative option should be examined, this would require another piece of work.

·         Members responded, asking what the timeframe for this would be.  Would it be worth including this within the report?

  • The Chairman commented that there were some timelines in the report where, for example, the Task Group had suggested that, for example, a three-year business plan be produced within a certain period of time.  After this had been produced, there would be a monitoring exercise to track how this was being followed.  If it was not being followed, this could be the point at which reconsideration of the way forward could take effect.

 

·         Members commented that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16

Meeting: 11/04/2022 - Joint Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel (Item 4.)

South Holland Centre Task Group Final Report

To present the task group’s final report for consideration (report of the South Holland Centre Task Group enclosed).