Decision details

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Decision status: Decision Made

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Purpose:

Decision:

Report author: Gary Stevenson

Publication date: 10/09/2020

Date of decision: 10/09/2020

Decided at meeting: 10/09/2020 - Cabinet

Effective from: 18/09/2020

This decision has been called in by:

• Councillor David Hayward who writes We request a call-in for the following reasons: 12.6.1 inadequate consultation with stakeholders prior to a decision. At its meeting on 1st September, the Overview & Scrutiny Committee (O&S) discussed the officers’ recommendation to Cabinet on this issue. O&S resolved that Cabinet should be provided with: • Actual visitor figures for each of the Tunbridge Wells centres. • Further details on Fusion Lifestyle’s delivery against measurable metrics following the Council’s investment in the centres in 2013. • Exact details regarding the number of Fusion’s clients who had already signed up to the Business Plan and details of any outstanding clients who had not. • Details of any council officers who had involvement in the decision to not reopen the Tennis Courts in advance. • The number of memberships cancelled during lockdown. As the principal stakeholder in this relationship, Fusion Lifestyle should have been required to provide answers to these specific questions before a decision was made. Officers have confirmed that no officer was involved in the decision not to reopen the tennis centre, despite an assertion from Fusion Lifestyle that it was a shared decision. None of these points were debated at Cabinet. The Cabinet received essentially the same report as that presented to O&S and no other. RTW Monson Swimming Club is a significant stakeholder at St John’s Sports Centre. It advised Cllr March on 9th September that Fusion Lifestyle is seeking to increase its fees for usage, undermining the Club’s ability to provide a volunteer-led community service. JTS – Jarrett Tennis School – has similarly been approached to increase its court usage fees. Neither of these stakeholders has been adequately consulted with by officers, members or Fusion’s management. It is also clear that RTW Monson Swimming Club’s Secretary wrote to Cllrs Maconochie & March on 17th August and had received no reply by the time of the Cabinet meeting. It is also apparent that neither officers nor members have entered discussions with Fusion Lifestyle about its obligations to these community-based services. Indeed, Cllr March, in her reply to the chairman of RTW Monson SC on 9th September, stated “ We are still under contract for another 18 months and this does not enable us to include or introduce conditions or terms with hirers, all of these aspects are the responsibility of Fusion management”. We would like to see that assertion tested and challenged at O&S. There is no evidence of any consultation with stakeholders of any of the sites. Cranbrook Sports have not been consulted as an example. 12.6.2 The absence of adequate evidence on which to base a decision. The decision was made upon incomplete information – we still do not know how many of Fusion’s contracts are being supported by other Councils, we still do not know why or when Fusion’s increased fees are being introduced and the likely impact of those increases on usage, we still do not know how Fusion will treat cancelled subscriptions and how it will market the service going forward, we still do not have projections for utilisation of the next eight months or likely outcomes if a second wave precipitates a further shutdown. O&S also resolved that: • Cabinet be requested to consider only waiving the management fees for 2020-21 and provide no other financial support having regard to Fusion’s ability to continue service provision and acceptable service levels; • That Cabinet be requested to consider that reopening was not optional as Fusion was bound by contract; These requests were not presented to cabinet. It is quite clear that the Cabinet had the opportunity to consider relevant, recent information before making its decision and either chose not to, or judged it not to be important. It is also now proven that two Cabinet members did receive information from at least one stakeholder on 17th August and yet no member of Cabinet or offic"
• Councillor Luke Everitt who writes As above"
• Councillor Nicholas Pope who writes As above"
• Councillor Dianne Hill who writes As above"
• Councillor Alain Lewis who writes As above"
• Councillor James Rands who writes As above"

Accompanying Documents:

• Updated September 2020 Cabinet Sports Centres post OSC PDF 141 KB
• Appendix A Cabinet 10 September 2020 Fusion Projections PDF 282 KB