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Harrow - Audit Commission Report see also Harrow Main Page & Harrow and Office of Fair Trading From an Inspection Report of the Audit Commission into Cultural Services, July 2005 49. A previous inspection of the sport and leisure service carried out by the Audit Commission in 2002 scored the service as ‘fair’ with ‘uncertain prospects for improvement’. This report provided nine recommendations for improvement which had either been fully or partially implemented at the time of our inspection.50. Although the Council recently renewed the leisure management contract with its external partner (LC), the full potential for effective partnership working has not been realised. One example of this is the lack of agreement as to the appropriateness of the current repairs and maintenance arrangements.51. There is also a lack of clarity between the Council and the leisure contractor in respect of responsibilities around sports development, which has hindered service improvement in this area. There is confusion over roles and responsibilities as they have are not been clearly defined or formalised. Ineffective communication between the Council and its leisure contractor has presented a barrier to improvement to date.58. Overall the BVPI (Best Value Performance Indicator) MORI survey scores for 2003 are low. This is a household survey that requests responses from residents. Satisfaction scores have moved very little between 2000 (when the BVPIs were first introduced) and 2003 meaning that movements are so insignificant that they count as ‘no change’ within the BVPI Direction of Travel classifications. Results are summarised in the table below.
79. Unlike the library service, user satisfaction with sport and leisure services is low. The quality of the current service is also adversely affected by a scarcity of built facilities in parts of the borough and capacity issues within the sports development unit. The relationship between the Council and its leisure management contractor has also not been developed to its full potential.80. The quality of the user experience for sport and leisure is mixed. A wide range of facilities are provided at Harrow Leisure Centre which is centrally located within the borough. However, there is a lack of built facilities elsewhere in the borough; a lack of capacity within the existing facilities to cope with increasing demand; a lack of access for sports development activities during peak periods in the leisure centre programmes; and poor outdoor sports provision.94. Successful Councils have sound performance management systems and effective financial management including flexibility to move money and people to tackle the most important problems. They have clear lines of accountability for action and have the skills to build effective partnerships to help bring about improvements.104. The Council’s performance management system is not yet fully embedded within the organisation and has yet to be fully implemented within cultural services to the extent that it is meaningful and robust at an individual service level...105. Within the libraries service, extensive use is made of the various national measures as well as local indicators, to monitor and manage performance. Within sport and leisure, there is considerable room for improvement in attaining key performance indicators that have been developed and agreed as part of the renewed leisure management contract.Do
any of the issues noted by the Audit Commission relate to this item found on
Harrow's website on 30.12.05? PB http://www.harrow.gov.uk/ccm/content/leisure-and-culture/sports-services/sports-facilities/frequently-asked-questions.en#c
Question
3 The
wet changing rooms have approximately 30,000 customers using them a month. In-order
to minimise the effects of heavy usage, Leisure Connection have amended cleaning
schedules and team rota's to ensure that customers receive a quality changing
environment at all times. Harrow seems to be contemplating how to respond to such issues. The council's September 2005 consultation draft INTERIM STRATEGY FOR SPORT, RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE includes the following under Proposed Strategies and Actions for Indoor Sport Facilities.
Unfortunately the draft document does not explain the priority ratings but it and the Audit Commission comments suggest that as is now known to be the case in Brent and Lambeth, the contract with Leisure Connection is inadequate and goodwill alone does not guarantee a fitting service. PB |
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