Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alcock was elected as Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

Where a Councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest the Councillor must declare the interest to the meeting and leave the room without participating in any discussion or making a statement on the item, except where a councillor is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of dispensation.

There were none.

To provide an update on the progress and performance of the South Holland Centre (report of the Assistant Director – Leisure and Culture enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Leisure and Culture which provided an update on the progress and performance of the South Holland Centre (SHC).

The Deputy Chief Executive – Communities introduced the report by stating that:

• The update to the Joint Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel at the current meeting had been arranged in order to receive maximum member feedback from both SHC Task Group committees;
• The report and associated presentation given to members at the meeting (and appended to the minutes) outlined an improving performance trajectory for the venue; and
• Further developmental work was planned and in progress.

The Deputy Chief Executive – Communities outlined the following main points detailed within the presentation:

• The focus of ongoing work and outcomes to date, which included:
  • To increase income; to explore different operating models and opportunities; to explore development of the catering offer; to capitalise on funding opportunities; and to improve and increase marketing activity;
• The focussed approach taken, progress and headline data in respect of the following four key objectives:
  • Objective 1: ‘Improve the overall quality of our service including the building itself and programming in line with our customer’s tastes and interests’;
  • Objective 2: ‘Define and implement a marketing strategy creating a roadmap for future growth and business development’;
  • Objective 3: ‘Ensure that our operation offers our residents the best value for money by minimising costs where possible’; and
  • Objective 4: ‘Explore alternative delivery solutions for the operation of the South Holland Centre’.

Members considered the update and presentation and raised the following points:

• Members welcomed the presentation and progress update;
• Members were encouraged by the inclusion of some targets within the report and of the progress made by the SHC including, notably, the good work of the current team; members praised the SHC Manager for her contribution to the progress achieved;
• Members stated that the performance of the SHC needed to be monitored against known financial targets and concern was expressed that neither a Business Plan nor financial targets had been provided, despite repeated requests;
• Members stated that, as the SHC was effectively being run as a business, the projected financial position of the SHC for the year ahead should be known and made available to the Panel. Revenue and cash flow projections, which anticipated a ‘surplus’, ‘deficit’ or ‘break even’ year-end position against targets needed to be forecasted and made available to members at intervals during the year. This was distinct from the end of year accounts which solely ‘looked back’ at the actual position of the previous financial year;
• Members requested that the financial data for the SHC be extracted from the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and circulated to the Joint Panel as soon as possible and that updates be at least annually; 
• Members added that the financial figures be made available for a rolling five-year Business Plan; where different delivery options were being considered, figures were requested which corresponded with those different options and assumptions; members declared an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

There were none.