Cabinet agrees:

1. To endorse changes to the Council’s current contract with Plymouth Active Leisure Ltd. proposed in this report, enabling the introduction of an Agency Model.

2. To delegate final agreement of a Deed of Variation to the current contract to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Head of Legal Services.

3. To endorse the pricing principles to be applied to set prices for the leisure services the Council will provide from 1st April 2025, using Plymouth Active Leisure as its agent.

4. To delegate authority to the Director of Public Health to determine and set the final, detailed list of fees and charges for these services in accordance with the principles.

Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

a)     Plymouth Active Leisure (PAL) was created as a Local Authority trading company following a decision by Cabinet in August 2021;

b)    In the past year, PAL had achieved:

i) Over 1.5 million visits to all facilities;

ii) Six million pounds worth of social value from visits, directly improving health and well-being;

iii) Provided free access to over 180 looked after children and care leavers;

iv) 52,000 residents used PAL services;

v) Administered and delivered Fit and Fed sessions, supporting 2,850 children from deprived areas including 196 clubs, providing 3096 spaces;

vi) Trained over 50 lifeguards via the PAL Training Academy;

vii) Taught 6,000 children to swim;

viii) Delivered over 1,000 safe swim lessons in collaboration with the NMP (National Marine Park) and Swim England;

ix) Reduced energy consumption by more than 10%;

x) Began delivery of Active Health in October 2024, aimed at tackling inequalities and improving people’s health;

xi) Grown fitness membership by 45% since 2022;

xii) Were second in the UK in the Sport and Leisure Sector for gender pay equality;

xiii) 55 people were supported with gym memberships and personal training sessions through the Plymouth Skills Builder Project;

c)     PAL provided a range of programmes and services to improve and maintain health and well-being, delivering on strategic priorities for Plymouth;

d)    PAL provided their services on behalf of PCC through a service contract and was wholly owned by PCC;

e)     Following recent changes to VAT guidance, the proposal was to adopt an agency model which would support the financial sustainability of PAL;

f)      The agency model was a HMRC compliant approach which would improve the trading position by £150,000 to £250,000 annually;

g)     Both PCC and PAL had received external legal and tax advice that supported the agency model;

h)    PCC choosing to follow an agency model would join them with a large number of Local Authorities who were delivering their leisure services in this way;

i)      In agreement with Cabinet, a deed of variation would need to be completed to change the operational model of PAL. PCC would need to set prices for services provided under the agency model in line with the fees and charges policy.

Cabinet agreed:

1.     To endorse changes to the Council’s current contact with Plymouth Active Leisure Ltd proposed in the report, enabling the introduction of the agency model;

2.     To delegate final agreement of a Deed of Variation to the current contract to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Head of Legal Services;

3.     To endorse the pricing principles to be applied to set prices for the leisure services the Council would provide from 01 April 2025, using Plymouth Active Leisure as its agent, as set out in paragraph 4.4 of the report;

4.     To delegate authority to the Director of Public Health to determine and set the final, detailed list of fees and charges for these services in accordance with the principles set out in paragraph 4.4 of the report.

(Councillor Evans OBE (Leader of the Council) left the meeting at the conclusion of this item and Councillor Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture and Communication) Chaired the next item)