BOROUGH OF POOLE

ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

14th JULY 2011

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF LEISURE SERVICES – FOR INFORMATION

ACCESS TO LEISURE AND LEARNING – PROGRESS REPORT

PART OF THE PUBLISHED FORWARD PLAN: YES

STATUS: SERVICE DELIVERY

1 / Purpose
1.1 / To provide Members with a progress on the Council’s Access to Leisure & Learning (ATL&L) Discount Scheme.
2 / Decision Required
2.1 / No decision required, report for information only.
3 / Background
3.1 / In December 2008, a report was presented to Members following a review of the management, administration, promotion and operational viability of the Scheme.
3.2 / In January 2010, a progress report was presented to Members and included progress on:
  • increased promotion, including new branding and widened distribution of ATL&L leaflets
  • the purchase ofATL&L stands with plasma screens for use in Leisure Centres
  • increased publicity in Poole News and Dorset based publications
  • attendance at Events
  • partnership working
  • online ATL&L Application

3.3 / Members agreed that good progress had been made and made a number of suggestions to widen membership further -See 4 below. Members requested a further progress report 12 months later.
4 / Information
Over the past year we have focussed on the following:
4.1 / Increasing awareness:
  • Leaflets–widened distribution to include doctor’s surgeries, community centres, libraries. In total, around 80 venues regularly have leaflets.
  • Promotional Stands- an additional stand and plasma screen was purchased in March 2010. There are now 4 stands – these are currently located in the three ‘Everyone Active Leisure Centre’s’ and The Junction Leisure Centre. They have also been placed in Central Library and the Lighthouse on occasion.
  • Publicity –article in Poole News April/May edition. Article published on Poole Partnership Website.
  • Posters – a new poster has been produced and distributed to 130 venues including doctor’s surgeries, churches, post offices and community centres, as suggested by Members.
  • Events – those attended include:
- Turlin Moor parents evening event.
- RELAYS – Mental Health Awareness day
- Be Active, Be Healthy at Poole College
  • Partnership working –
has continued with existing partners
4.2 / Providers:
4.2.1 / December 2008 - 15 providers.
December 2009 - 30 providers or extended activities.
Currently - 34 providers or extended activities
4.2.2
4.2.3 / New venues & activities:
  • Bearwood Community Centre and Social Club
  • Poole Martial Arts and Fitness Centre
  • Poole Swimming Club – ‘School to Club’ link programmes
  • Albion Sea Fishing Club
To encourage new providers, it is now a condition of the Council’s Leisure Grant Scheme that applicant organisations & clubs offer ATL&L discount to members.
4.3 / Administration:
4.3.1 / The Council’s Self Service Project for on-line ATL&L Applications went live mid March. It had been delayed due to problems linking LAGAN integration with the payments system and was then thoroughly tested and staff trained before it went live. A digital card printer has been purchased and on-line applications are steadily increasing.
4.4 / Membership:
4.4.1 / It was previously reported to Members that there were 4100 members as at 31st March 2009. As at 1st April 2011, there were 3871 members.
4.4.2
4.4.3
4.4.4
4.4.5
4.4.6 / It is still hoped that on-line enrolment will reduce some of the physical barriers to becoming a member and potentially increase membership.
Working with BoP’s Benefits Team, we are planning a direct marketing approach to all BoP Housing and Council Tax Benefit residents (approx 13,000 residents) to notify them that they are eligible to become an ATL&L member.
It was planned to tie this in to the launch of on-line enrolment and will be initially targeted towards deprived wards however we wanted to ensure that the online system was working well before we embarked on this. The first batch is due to be sent at the end of July, targeting 2000 eligible residents, the response will be monitored and, if successful, the next three mail outs are planned at the beginning of October, November and December, each targeting approx 4000 people.
We are currently looking at the feasibility of transferring enrolments from the Leisure Centres to Libraries. One of the main considerations would be that we could offer on-line enrolments in these venues, reducing administration time making new and renewed applications easier for members. We are also considering expanding the enrolment centres into other BoP Service Units e.g. Transportation Services, enabling residents to apply for their bus pass and ATL&L card at the same time. Feasibility for this is currently being explored.
The eligibility age for students in full time education has recently been reduced from 18 yrs+ to 16 yrs+, a further opportunity to increase membership.
Use of ATL&L within Leisure Centres has increased. Figures from SLM for 2008/09 show 87,000 visits whilst during 2009/10 it was 90,000 an increase of 3.4%. Figures for 2010/11 show a total number of visits 132,500 showing a further increase of 47%.
This positive upturn is attributed to a range of factors including a growth in the activity range, increased sports club use at Rossmore Leisure Centre, positive centre marketing, discounted pricing and improved data collection methods.
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5.1 / Financial Implications
Currently, ATL&L membership fees are collected and kept by the enrolling centres. With the introduction of on-line enrolments, membership revenues will come directly into the Council.
Additional promotional work has been absorbed from within existing service budgets.
6 / Legal Implications
6.1 / None
7 / Policy Implications
7.1 / The scheme helps to support the Councils Corporate Objectives of Promoting Health & Wellbeing, Support children and young people and Strengthen Communities.
8 / Promoting Equalities and Respecting Diversity
8.1 / The Scheme continues to meet the Council’s Core Objectives by providing access to discounted leisure and sports activities for people on low incomes, those with a disability or in full-time education.
9 / Environmental Impact
9.1
9.2 / The Scheme enables wider enjoyment of Poole’s natural assets.
Web based applications will reduce the amounts of printing and paper required to administer the scheme.
10 / Staffing Implications
10.1 / Further changes to the Scheme will be absorbed within current staffing levels.
11 / Conclusion
11.1 / Use by existing members has increased, particularly within leisure centres, although there has been no significant change in overall scheme membership. The effects of the increased promotion and changes to eligibility and administration, predominantly implemented since April 2010, maynot yet be fully realised.
11.2 / Development of the Scheme is on-going and further joint working between service units and providers will enable us to reach those eligible for membership.
11.3 / Digital processing, including on-line enrolment, will streamline administration, have a positive financial impact and may increase awareness and memberships.
11.4 / Additional venues for ATL&L discount will continue to be explored and negotiated. This will ensure there is wide and diverse range of activities to encourage new members.

CLIVE SMITH

HEAD OF LEISURE SERVICES

Contact Officers: Anthony Rogers

Recreation Manager - (01202) 261345

Background Papers: None

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