Chichester District Council to review leisure services

Chichester District Council is reviewing the way it manages its leisure services, including its three Westgate Leisure sites in Chichester, Southbourne and Midhurst.
Midhurst's new Grange 

Picture by Louise Adams C140278-1Midhurst's new Grange 

Picture by Louise Adams C140278-1
Midhurst's new Grange Picture by Louise Adams C140278-1

The council is considering using a leisure management company to run its services across Southbourne, Midhurst and Chichester.

The review will continue until the beginning of next year, when officers will report the results to both cabinet and full council so they are able to make a decision.

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If they decide to outsource the management of the leisure services, the contract would be awarded in the new year and would begin in April/May 2016.

Existing staff would be transferred to the new management company.

“We are incredibly proud of our leisure services and what they achieve. This review is being carried out to make sure that we can continue to deliver the same high quality services in the future,” said Cllr Gillian Keegan, cabinet member for commercial services at Chichester District Council.

She added: “We regularly review all of our services to make sure that we are operating them in the most efficient way and that we are meeting the needs of our residents.

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“This gives us the opportunity to look at new ways of doing things in order to continue to deliver the services that our residents expect.

“This particular review is considering the practicality of engaging a leisure management company.

“Any surplus made by the company could then be invested into enhancing and improving the existing services.

“This is purely a review at this stage. No decision has been made.

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“We will be talking to lots of people, including clubs and community groups to assess their needs.

“The key is for us to review our findings and decide if this is something that would be suitable for Chichester District or not.

“Many other councils across the country have adopted this approach.

“If this option is chosen we would continue to own the centres, but the management company would run the centres and associated services on our behalf.

“The service to our customers would continue as usual.

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“We would also be responsible for holding the management company to account if they were not performing to the standards that we expect.

“Providing our residents with high quality services in the most cost-effective way, is our priority.”

For more details see www.chichester.gov.uk

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