Wokingham           see also Wokingham 2000-2002

In August 2006 Wokingham Council responded  to a request made under Freedom of Information. No summary reports for councillor attended meetings were sent. Cleaning standards, one of the issues reported earlier, continues to bother customers and council staff. For example, The Quarterly Review for May - July 2006 included:

      "Eleven written complaints were received this quarter regarding the cleanliness of the wetside facilities at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre and Carnival Pool. The issue of cleanliness has been ongoing for a while now and LC need to ensure that the management team are supervising staff and that staff are aware of their actual duties. Improvements are needed over the summer period especially as the wetside area is at its optimum usage."

Also received was a copy of recent default notice following staffing level cuts, something which has not unreasonably annoyed the Council. - see Cuts.

Carnival Pool      Ryeish Green       St Crispins       Loddon Valley       Default Notice 

Carnival Pool

Three monitoring reports for 2006 were received for visits made in February, April and June. There were good points noted, including reception staff and Harpers Equipment in working order. For some issues LC made comments but some of these raise the question why LC had not informed the council of the issues before the inspection. Issues noted included:

A "Remedial Action Notice" was issued on 21.4.06. This included: 

In the complaint summary received for the year to July 2006 11 customers had reported issues at Carnival. Of these six concerned the Learner Pool and four concerned cleaning.

Carnival Quest Report

The QUEST report based on visits towards the end of 2005 noted "Despite the very positive results … the accuracy and completeness of staff training records was not good…. Consideration should be given to a system where Staff are demonstrating proof of knowledge/competence rather than just saying they were trained. could be given a fundamental review." Under Cleaning seven sub-categories were rated "2" - "yes you do this but you have not implemented it fully", the second lowest score on a scale of 1 -4. The other sub-categories were "3" - "Yes you do this but there are still areas for improvement." Issues noted include insufficient specification for cleaners, storage of chemicals, and "sporadic" cleaning checks. 

Under Maintenance the sub-heading for planned, preventative maintenance (PPM) and inspection programmes also got a "2". There was "no evidence" that external PPM contracts were being effectively monitored. And, "The Corrective Action Log contained a prioritisation system to enable identification of Health & Safety defects. This system is not being used.."

Under Environmental Control is a heading for energy and environmental policy objectives with a rating "1" - "You do not do this at all." Four of the other nine headings had ratings of "2". Thus, ""Staff knowledge of the Building Management System appeared very limited. As such, routine control and adjustment to ensure optimum customer conditions and also to minimise energy consumption was not being addressed as competently as it could be." Given the tendency of QUEST to understate, this can be interpreted as their version of a bollocking.  

Under Health & Safety Management are 11 headings, four of which receive "2" ratings, including staff training, risk assessment, control of hazardous substances, safe working practices and control of contractors on site.

Under Staff Supervision and Planning there are six rated headings and four of these are "2". Thus we know insufficient "resources are allocated to meet the standard of service promised to customers", staff are not all suitably qualified and trained for their duties, there is inadequate cover for absences and inadequate time allowed for meetings, handover and trainings. The report notes, "Within the WDC website it is stated that Fitness Staff are always available within Harpers…this was not actually the case as the available supervision hours were cut back earlier in the year." And "It was evident during the Assessment that on a number of occasions there were insufficient backup staff to cover sickness and holidays. This as creating some tensions in the team as they were having to work extra hours or take on extra duties."

Under People Management there are six subheadings, four of which are rated "2" and two of which get "4". It was noted that only Crèche and swimming teachers were screened (presumably CRB checked) while "many other  staff could find themselves in vulnerable situations with children...". Is LC waiting for a paedophile to be found in their employ or, worse still, to be convicted for abusing children through his position, before it routinely checks all employees with access to young people? There is also a need for the pubic to have confidence that those who might have access to locker master keys have at least no recent convictions for dishonesty.

Ryeish Green

Two monitoring reports were received, for April and June 2006. The later was limited to an outside inspection. Some areas were reported as satisfactory but less happy items noted included:. 

St Crispins

Three monitoring reports for 2006 were received for visits made in February, May  and July. Some areas were reported as satisfactory but...

Loddon Valley Leisure Centre

Four monitoring reports for 2006 were received for visits made in February, June, July and August. Reception staff were praised and many areas were found to be in good order. The June report in particular found little it was unhappy with. However, many unsatisfactory items were noted including:

The trampoline storage issue was noted in a September 2005 monitoring report. "It is recommended through health and safety and through the British Gymnastics Association that all trampoline beds are to be placed in the upright position when there is not a class taking place. This is a reoccurring issue; please ensure that all staff are aware of all policies and procedures regarding this issue." Unattended and erected trampolines were also noted in the report of the Quest Mystery Visitor to St Crispin's in October 2005.

The customer complaint summary for the year up to July 2006 includes 9 issues. two complaints were about cleaning and one about staffing levels. Then there were two about "service levels" and two about the dance studio.

The Leisure management Contract meting on 18.5.06 records under Complaints that a blind person had been turned away form the leisure centre contrary to  legal obligations.  

Default Notice -  Catering at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre Issued 18.7.06