WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL

Report by the Executive Director of Housing, Environmental and Economic Development

Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee:

8December 2010

Subject: Review of Community Facilities

1.Purpose

1.1The purpose of this report is to:

(i) update Members on the progress of the integration of Halls and Community Learning and Development facilities;

(ii) provide feedback on the consultation exercise that was carried out between August and November on the re-shaping of community facilities; and

(iii) consider options for provision of this service for the future including proposals for a community facility in Milton as agreed at the Council meeting of 25 June 2008.

2.Background

2.1At the Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee on 3 March 2010 a report was presented to Members for consideration to shape the future provision of community facilities within West Dunbartonshire. This report was presented as a result of the Council’s revenue budget proposals for 2009/2010 which agreed that the Housing, Environmental and Economic Development department should manage community education centres and that there would be a report brought to a future Council/Committee to streamline bureaucracy, maximise efficiencies within this service and increase income generation.

2.2At this meeting Members were made aware of the facilities included within the review and they were as noted below:

Events and Halls

  • Bowling Hall
  • Denny Civic Theatre
  • Dumbarton Burgh Hall
  • Duntocher Hall
  • Howatshaws Hall
  • Napier Hall
Skypoint
  • The West Dumbarton Activity Centre
  • West Bridgend Hall

Community Learning andDevelopment

  • Alexandria CL&D Centre
  • Bonhill CL&D Centre
  • Clydebank East CL&D Centre
  • Concord CL&D Centre
  • Dalmonnach CL&D Centre
  • Dalmuir CL&D Centre
  • Glenhead CL&D Centre
  • Hub CL&D Centre
  • Phoenix CL&D Centre

2.3After discussion at the Committee and having heard explanations to Members questions the Committee agreed to:

(1)support the review process as outlined in paragraph 10.2 of the report;

(2)involve representatives of the trades unions in the consultation exercise, without previous assumptions, on the rationalisation of the service with a further report including recommendations on the outcome of the consultation being presented to the Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee in October 2010; and

(3)note that a report on the letting of facilities would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

2.4As part of the background to this report, the committee is reminded of the decision at the Council meeting of 25 June 2008 where it was agreed to allocate £90,000 for the provision of a community facility within Milton.

2.5The project was to be led by HEED using internal resources to develop a project plan to deliver a community facility within Milton.

3.Main Issues

3.1Following the decision of the Committee to agree to progressing the review of community facilities identified and the requirement to further explore the undernoted proposed changes without identifying previous assumptions, this wasprogressed through further work within the department and with facilitated public meetings with the community.

The areas explored include:

(i) Policy

  • Consultation on proposals for rationalisation of community facilities
  • Review of letting policy across community facilities
  • Potential of Community Management or alternative use of some facilities
  • Consultation on the role of Management Advisory Committees/Groups

(ii) Management

  • Potential for reducing operating costs through greater staff flexibility
  • Standardisation of Caretakers/Centre Supervisors duties
  • Centralisation of bookings
  • Review of service provision in C.E Centre cafes
  • Review of opening hours

Public Consultation

3.2The above points were addressed in part or in full at the four community consultation events, two in Clydebank, one in Dumbarton and one in Alexandria. The original meetings scheduled for August 2010 were intimated to users via direct mailing. This process failed to contact many of the key users and as a consequence of this, the report which was scheduled to come to the Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee in October was delayed until December. A further set of meetings was arranged for this consultation when notification was given in the local press via public notice, there were articles in the local press identifying that this was taking place and there were posters and fliers displayed in many of the centres. The attendance at the public consultation meetings was varied with Dumbarton being very well attended, the second meeting in Clydebank being reasonably well attendedand the meetings in Alexandria and the first meeting in Clydebank being poorly attended.

3.3Although the attendance was varied the general conclusion and consensus of the consultation can be noted as below:

  • People wanted to know specific details on what centres were likely to close.
  • People agreed that the facilities required an element of upgrading.
  • People agreed that the facilities were necessary in certain communities.
  • People agreed that there should be rationalisation of under utilised facilities.
  • People agreed that there should be the opportunity for community management of facilities.
  • There was a general concern about significant increases in the charging mechanism for use of facilities however there was recognition that at this point in time charges in many of the centres were too cheap.
  • There was a recognition that in the current economic climate it did not offer best value to have facilities lying partially empty and that merging of facilities was a good idea.
  • People were concerned that specific groups were not in attendance at the consultation meeting.

Discussion with Trade Unions

3.4In discussing the rationalisation of facilities with Trade Union and staff members there was a general agreement that there should be some form of rationalisation of halls where they are under utilised by local communities. There was however concern raised about future employment and issues on the availability of voluntary severance were raised by a number of the staff. Assurances were given that as part of the Council’s organisational change policy rationalisation would be delivered through redeployment and a voluntary severance package.

Leisure Trust

3.5Following the community consultation and during this process the Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee in October agreed to progress the issue of a Leisure Trust within West Dunbartonshire, and include community facilities within the package of buildings that would transfer to a Leisure Trust. It is anticipated that any rationalisation process would be complete prior to the transfer of facilities to a Leisure Trust. The potential savings from this rationalisation and efficiencies gained could make the Leisure Trust more viable in terms of reduced subsidy being paid and maximising letting use of the remaining facilities through an improved booking system.

Community Management

3.6One of the key points identified through the consultation within this review is the appetite for some communities to manage their own facility. There has been discussion with a number of groups regarding the transfer of existing facilities to their stewardship with specific examples being Howatshaws Hall, Bowling Hall and possibly the Phoenix Centre.

3.7During the past six months there have been a number of facilities where opening hours have been significantly reduced through lack of use. This is specifically the case with the Phoenix Centre.

Booking of Facilities

3.8With community facilities transferring to Leisure services and potentially to a Leisure Trust the centralised booking aspiration can be much more easily achieved and in fact allow more use as there will be an overview of vacant premises/lets for users to access.

3.9The review of the opening hours was clearly an issue that was raised within the consultation and it would be important to ensure that facilities are open and manned when demand is at greatest, however, with the centralised booking service, this may result in an opportunity to optimise the use of assets in an area whilst reducing operating costs. This may also provide an opportunity to identify redundant assets which may be disposed of.

Milton Facility

3.10As part of this review, consideration has to be given to the Council decision to look at providing a community facility in Milton. A number of consultation events took place in Milton to identify if there was a need and a community interest in a community facility.

3.11A survey was carried out which was issued to all members of the Milton community, 82% of the returns stated that the community was in favour of having a new community facility. A detailed analysis of the survey is attached as Appendix 1.

3.12As part of the ongoing discussion, the community group were made aware that the provision of the facility would be the Council’s input to this project. The Council would design and obtain planning consent and provide the facility.

3.13A community group has been established with assistance from CVS who are prepared to take on the running and the management of any new facility within Milton. They are constituted and have applied to OSCR for charitable status.Legal Services has produced a draft lease for the community group which clearly establishes responsibility for insurance, security, utility costs, repairs and maintenance being with the community group.

3.14This group is aware that the Council’s input is restricted to the provision of the facility. Assistance from various departments in the development of programmes and support in developing community capacity in relation to centre management would be the Council’s contribution.

3.15A draft lease has been produced that clearly establishes the community’s role in running, managing and financing the day to day operation of any new facility.

4.Next Steps

4.1There are three clear issues to be considered in the next steps of this review. They cover the provision of cafes with facilities, provision of a community facility in Milton and the commencement of detailed and full consultation with groups in specific facilities where the Council may not directly support provision going forward but facilitate a transfer to community management similar to the proposed operational model forMilton.

4.2What is clear is the consultation exercise on the integration of this service has highlighted a number of opportunities to deliver significant change in providing community facilities within West Dunbartonshire.

4.3There is an appetite from within the community to deliver this change and one of the aspirations coming from this change would be that some of the savings generated could be re-invested in upgrading the remaining facilities.

4.4The provision of facilities would still require to meet the needs of community learning and development within Education and to ensure that any statutory obligations placed on them by HMIE were maintained and developed.

Café Provision

4.5One of the issues highlighted in the previous report was the review of the provision of community centre cafes. Further investigation identified that this area of provision clearly does not meet the Council’s healthy eating aspiration and, as such, the view remains that the cafes are neither financially viable or achieving the Council’s healthy eating standards and therefore should no longer be operated by the Council. There may be the opportunity for community groups who would continue to use facilities to operate these on a community basis and this would require to be fully explored.

4.6It is proposed that the Council withdraw from operation of these facilities by no later than 31 March 2011. Consultation with user groups would be held to establish if there was an opportunity for any community provision within the facilities prior to the cessation of service provision.

4.7All staff employed would be consulted with and offered redeployment opportunities.

Milton Facility

4.8Should the committee agree to proceed with the Milton Community Facility, the Council will apply for planning consent for the facility. Once planning consent has been obtained, a tendering process will procure the building and the build stage will proceed.

4.9The facility would be operated by the constituted group who would require to meet the terms of the lease agreement provided by the Council which would ensure any future operating costs were met by the local community.

Detailed Consultation Process

4.10The report presented to this committee on 3 March 2010 detailed a number of facilities that could be considered for community transfer, rationalisation or closurebased on wage levels, levels of subsidy, the condition of properties/costs to bring to tolerable standards etc.

4.11Following the general consultation exercise and applying the accepted principles of that consultation, it is proposed that detailed consultation is held with users of the undernoted facilities to obtain views on community transfer, merging with other local facilities or closure.

These facilities being:

  • Howatshaws Halls
  • Bowling Hall
  • Phoenix CLD Centre
  • Dalmonach CLD Centre
  • Duntocher Hall
  • Dumbarton Burgh Hall
  • Clydebank East Centre

4.12It would be the intention to report back to this committee in June 2011 the outcome of these consultations with recommendations.

5.People Implications

5.1Following the Committee in March 2010 there have been ongoing discussions with Trade Unions in the shaping of this service.

5.2Through discussions with staff and their Trade Unions the clear picture was obtained that there was an appetite for review however there was concern about future employment and the opportunity for voluntary severance.

There was also some resistance to change in terms of the job description responsibilities however it is essential that to modernise this service there needs to be some form of rationalisation and merging of duties and responsibilities within facilities.

6.Financial Implications

6.1Closure or transfer of café facilities to community management will generate a saving in revenue budget of £110k per annum.

6.2Completion of this review, subject to wider consultation as outlined in 4.11 above, may identify options that would result in a reduction in the net cost of community facilities to the Council whilst maintaining local provision that will meet the needs of users. This is likely to be facilitated through rationalisation of community facilities within key areas, improved utilisation and community participation in managing facilities.

6.3There is £90,000 available for the provision of a community facility in Milton. The Head of Finance and IT has confirmed that this funding would be available in financial year 2011/12.

7.Risk Analysis

7.1There is a risk that following the consultation exercise that consensus and agreement may not be reached with every community in meeting their aspiration for available community space.

This scenario could result in some resistance to change within a community area however the overriding consideration will be to optimise the use of Council assets to support the community activity effectively in the context of the Councils wider economic pressures and Asset Management strategy.

7.2There is a risk that, should facilities be transferred to community control, they could be returned to Council control if use was less than anticipated. However, the risks of this will be mitigated through robust lease agreements and investing in community capacity/skills to optimise the potential for successful and sustainable community management arrangements.

8.Equalities Impact

8.1Having reviewed the outcome of the consultation exercise the equalities impact assessment highlights the fact that there is the need to ensure access to suitably adapted facilities for all community user groups and that the proximity of facilities would require to be such that no specific group was being disadvantaged.

9.Conclusions and Recommendations

9.1As a result of the Committee decision on 3 March 2010 to further consult with Trade Unions and the community without any pre-conceived ideas some members of the community felt that they were being disadvantaged in not having specific proposals placed in front of them. It was explained that we were obtaining general views on the principles of rationalisation, merging and transfer of facilities to community groups and this was accepted.

9.2The range of community facilities within the Council’s portfolio is wide and varied with what is generally accepted as an over provision in a number of areas. The broad range of proposals that were previously submitted to the Housing, Environment and Economic Development Committee on 3 March 2010 substantially mirror the views of the community however there is the exception that we now have clear indications that there are certain communities that would like to transfer the community facility to their management and operating model.

9.3It is recommended that the Committee:

(i)agrees to discontinue café provision in community facilities by no later than 31 March 2011 as they are not economically viable, do not provide healthy choices and conflict with the Council’s objectives for schools catering;

(ii)agrees to progressing the creation of a community facility in Milton at a cost of no more than £90,000; and

(iii)agrees to detailed consultation on the rationalisation on specific under-utilised facilities as outlined in paragraph 4.11 with groups affected and report back to the June 2011 HEED committee.

Elaine Melrose

Executive Director of Housing, Environmental and Economic Development

Date: 10 November 2010

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Persons to Contact:Ronald M. Dinnie - Head of Land and Environment,Garshake Road, Dumbarton, G82 3PU,telephone: 01389 737601, e-mail:

Lynda McLaughlin -Manager of Commercial Operations, Elm Road, Dumbarton, telephone: 01389 772097, e-mail:

Appendix:Analysis of Consultation Survey

Background Papers:Report to HEED committee 3 March 2010 - Review of Community Facilities

Wards Affected:All