(a)

Plymouth Life Centre –

—

the handover to the Leisure Management Operator would take place in mid November which would result in the fit out being complete in mid January 2012 (which took account of a three week shutdown over the Christmas period);

—

it was envisaged that the building works would be complete on programme in November 2011 (with the subsequent handover of the building on 16 January 2012); the building would be open to the public in early February 2012;

(b)

Leisure Management Contract –

—

the Leisure Management Contract had been signed on 20 May 2011; the authority had been working with SLM to develop their mobilisation proposals and to begin to meet with staff from the various organizations that would TUPE transfer to SLM for the duration of the contract;

—

SLM had appointed its Contract Manager, David Greenwood;

—

regular progress updates were being held with both the Trade Unions and staff groups;

(c)

Brickfields –

—

following discussions, it has been agreed to grant a lease to the Devonport Community Leisure Limited with a further sub-lease being granted to SLM for the management and operation of the building;

(d)

Skateboard Park -

—

the revised skate park design had been issued to planning (a few minor amendments had been requested); following completion of these amendments an amended planning application had been submitted;

(e)

Plymouth Pavilions

—

a competitive dialogue exercise had commenced for the procurement of a private sector partner for the delivery of ice and arena facilities; the programme to secure a partner would result in an appointment in early 2012.

(f)

the Devon Audit Partnership had been involved in this process and a member of the partnership had also sat on the Executive Programme Board, to oversee the award of the contract;

(g)

Sport and Leisure Management (the leisure management operator) would be monitoring users of the Plymouth Life Centre, to identify those areas of the city that were under-using the facility (marketing campaigns would be used to target these areas); this would assist the operator in meeting the targets set by the Council within the leisure management contract;

(h)

the Plymouth Life Centre was considered to be easier to access than the Pavilions;

(i)

the Plymouth Life Centre offered significantly improved swimming facilities than were currently available at the Pavilions;

(j)

the Council had been in discussion with such user groups as the ‘Young at Heart’ group, regarding the transfer from the Pavilions to the Plymouth Life Centre; (the water facilities within the Plymouth Life Centre offered flexibility for all users as there was space to accommodate all activities such as the fun pool, swimming lessons, aerobics, swimming and professional swimming);

(k)

a site visit had taken place, in order to engage with key General Practitioners to demonstrate the real benefits to the city that the Plymouth Life Centre offered.