Report of Director of Tourism and Leisure

Lead Cabinet member: Councillor Margaret Bannister

(Key decision):

(1) To approve option C for the construction of a new swimming and leisure complex.

(2) To delegate to the Director of Tourism & Enterprise, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Tourism & Enterprise, authority to make amendments to the design and business case which result from further analysis of option C, the planned public consultation and planning application processes.

(3) To approve the requisite variation to the capital programme for option C.

(4) To approve the appointment of CLEAR Sustainable Futures (CSF) to deliver this scheme.

(5) To instruct officers to discontinue the current procurement process (OJEU Ref: 2017/S 098-194542) for the operator of the new Sovereign Centre.

(6) To delegate to the Director of Tourism and Enterprise, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Tourism and Enterprise:

(a) Authority to appoint a temporary operator to run the existing centre from 1st April 2019 until the new Leisure Centre is open, having regard to representations and information from both existing and potential operators.

(b) To negotiate and conclude the documentation (including any lease that is required) to allow for the delivery of these services in the most efficient structure ensuring compliance with all legal requirements. This delegation is to include authorisation i) not to dispose by auction or invitation of tenders following public advertisement (sought under Contract Procedure Rule 18.1) and ii) to waive any requirement for a competitive process to award a sub-threshold services contract (Contract Procedure Rule 2.4.1.a).

(7) To instruct officers to seek further advice on the optimal financial structure of the new operator contract and report to a future Cabinet on proposals to select an operator for the new swimming and leisure complex.

(8) To delegate to the Director of Tourism & Enterprise, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Tourism and Enterprise and Financial Services, the Chief Finance Officer and the Lawyer to the Council authority to work on the detailed development, management and approval of the scheme and of all the documentation required to deliver the project. Such delegation to include approval to allowing exceptions to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules should that be necessary.

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Tourism and Enterprise, on the proposed design, budget and construction mechanism for the construction of a new swimming and leisure complex and the interim management of the existing centre, following the expiry of the current arrangements with Eastbourne Leisure Trust (ELT) and Serco.

A member of the public, Mr McNaught-Davis, addressed the Cabinet as a representative of ELT. He recommended that Cabinet reject officer recommendation 6 and that ELT and Serco continue to operate the existing centre until the new centre is open, due to the potential risk of financial cost and quality provision.

Councillor Tutt thanked Mr McNaught-Davis for the points raised and suggested an amendment to officer recommendation 6.  The amendment was unanimously agreed and detailed below.

Visiting members, Councillors Freebody and Smart addressed the Cabinet on the overall cost of the project, proposed plans and suggested an added option to refurbish the existing leisure centre.

Councillor Tutt thanked Eastbourne Swimming Club for their feedback and detailed discussions about the scale and configuration of the pools. This had been taken into consideration and incorporated into the revised plans, including an 8 lane pool and diving pit. The Cabinet unanimously agreed to option C, set out at 7.3 of the report.

Resolved (key decision):

(1) To approve option C for the construction of a new swimming and leisure complex.

(2) To delegate to the Director of Tourism & Enterprise, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Tourism and Enterprise, authority to make amendments to the design and business case which result from further analysis of option C, the planned public consultation and planning application processes.

(3) To approve the requisite variation to the capital programme for option C.

(4) To approve the appointment of CLEAR Sustainable Futures (CSF) to deliver this scheme.

(5) To instruct officers to discontinue the current procurement process (OJEU Ref: 2017/S 098-194542) for the operator of the new Sovereign Centre.

(6) To delegate to the Director of Tourism and Enterprise, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Tourism and Enterprise:

(a) Authority to appoint a temporary operator to run the existing centre from 1st April 2019 until the new Leisure Centre is open, having regard to representations and information from both existing and potential operators, and:

(b) To negotiate and conclude the documentation (including any lease that is required) to allow for the delivery of these services in the most efficient structure ensuring compliance with all legal requirements. This delegation is to include authorisation i) not to dispose by auction or invitation of tenders following public advertisement (sought under Contract Procedure Rule 18.1) and ii) to waive any requirement for a competitive process to award a sub-threshold services contract (Contract Procedure Rule 2.4.1.a).

(7) To instruct officers to seek further advice on the optimal financial structure of the new operator contract and report to a future Cabinet on proposals to select an operator for the new swimming and leisure complex.

(8) To delegate to the Director of Tourism & Enterprise, in consultation with the Cabinet members for Tourism and Enterprise and Financial Services, the Chief Finance Officer and the Lawyer to the Council authority to work on the detailed development, management and approval of the scheme and of all the documentation required to deliver the project. Such delegation to include approval to allowing exceptions to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules should that be necessary.

Reason for decisions:

To finalise the development plan for a new swimming and leisure complex in Eastbourne.