Tories reject call to scrap leisure centres management 'privatisation'

CONSERVATIVES on New Forest District Council have refused to scrap plans for a private organisation to run its public leisure centres despite being presented with a 2,000-name petition.

The list of names opposing the management “privatisation” was gathered by the New Forest West Labour party and formally handed in at a full meeting of NFDC in Lyndhurst on Monday.

There are no Labour members on the district council but the Liberal Democrat opposition group later proposed a motion abandoning the plans – which was overwhelmingly voted down by the Tory majority.

Handing in the petition, local Labour party secretary Jennie Worsdale pointed to the service’s £265,000 operational surplus last year and accused the Tories of having “no clear rationale” other than to cut costs.

She said: “NFDC has so far run a service which is well-used, well-regarded, financially viable, and has accountability to the communities it serves. As the saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, why fix it?’.”

There are five leisure centres, each with a swimming pool, in New Milton, Lymington, Applemore, Ringwood and Totton. Under the Tory plans, the sites would stay in public ownership with workers shifting over to the new management.

Ms Worsdale claimed there had been no proper public consultation, only public forum events attended by just a few hundred people.

If the plans went ahead, she warned that groups would not be guaranteed access to the centres, where prices might rise. The centres would no longer be directly accountable to the public, she said, and if it did not work out, taking management back in-house would be difficult and costly.

The idea was defended by Tory Cllr Derek Tipp who said: “This is a partnership we’re looking into. It’s not privatisation. It could go to a not-for-profit company. They have economies of scale and the expertise, from running hundreds of centres, that with five we do not have.

“If you have something that’s not as efficient and effective as it could be, we should look at other options. We have not made a decision and we will not make a decision for some time.”

Fellow Tory Cllr Keith Craze said Labour’s objections to private sector involvement brought to mind the party’s 1920s leader Ramsay MacDonald.

Lib Dem Jack Davies proposed junking the plan completely, saying: “We believe it’s better for the public to have an accountable provider.”

Independent Cllr Jacqui England added: “I feel it needs to be looked at slightly more in depth. I feel more consultation needs to be done.”

Cllr Mark Steele, cabinet member for leisure and wellbeing, said: “I propose that the council notes this petition and that myself, as the health and leisure portfolio holder, and the cabinet will carefully consider this petition when making any recommendation to this council on the future running of the leisure centres.”

His proposed response was voted through after the Lib Dem amendment to drop the idea was defeated.

Barton Cllr Alan O'Sullivan asked what protection there would be for schools’ access to the leisure centres, such as Arnewood School in New Milton.

Cllr Steele said price rises would be limited to the consumer prices index measure of inflation, adding: “We have been working with the schools to clarify their requirements and these have been included in a protected element of the new contract.”

Four groups have responded to the management tender and the preferred bidders are expected to be announced in early March before a final decision in the summer.

If approved, the new structure would be in place by January next year.

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