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Leisure Connection Watch

                         Last updated : 23 November 2011 

Incorporating Harpers Fitness

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World Health Organisation: Guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environment

The Leisure Connection Dossier - Issue 7  7 May 2011

With so much information about LC on this website it can be time consuming finding the leading items. Now you can download a Word Document or PDF with key reports about LC. The dossier refers to Audit Commission, council and media sources. Items are listed under headings that include Problems with Council Contracts, Health & Safety, Cleaning & Hygiene, Maintenance, Staffing,  Price Increases, and User Contract Issues.  The current version is  Issue 7 published 7.5.11. 

     Headings from 2007     Headings from 2006       Headings from 2004 to 2005 

 Index for News Headings from January 2008 till now
Dates on left are when items were added to LCW.    Dates on right are when reports first appeared.    

• Hygiene concerns about pool expressed at two public meetings.
• Petition against plans to close half of pool to early morning swimmers

• 15 out of 18 lifeguards found to lack qualifications
• H&S Inspector questions qualifications of LC Head Office person in charge of H&S
• “The changing rooms ... are not cleaned effectively, the floors have ‘body fats’ and debris, particularly around the corners of the walls...”
• "When interviewed the team were unclear as to how the overnight cleaning was managed and they had yet to define standards or health and safety guidelines for this aspect of the cleaning programme."
• "Learner pool circulation pump out of action for about 4 months."
• "At least 25% of lockers in the ladies Changing Room had no key or pins."
• "“The football changing room showers require further cleaning, particularly the scales on pipes, sockets and joint (potential Legionella issues)...”

9.6.11 West Devon - Council Committee Finds "consultation undertaken by Leisure Connection was flawed" 22.3.11

"There was also some concern that that attendance figures proffered by Leisure Connection were not entirely accurate through the electronic recording system not always functioning."

• "During the inspection, two acting managers were running the provision. Neither member of staff holds appropriate qualifications for the post nor is there a named deputy with an appropriate qualification who is able to take charge in the absence of the manager. Lack of training and experience has a negative impact on the provision's ability to meet children’s individual needs effectively."
• "No evidence could be located regarding criminal record bureau checks."
• "...insufficient staffing levels to ensure that children are supervised safely."
• "No clear systems in place to promote good hygiene practice..."
• "Children bring water bottles from home. However, once they have drunk this, they do not always have access to fresh drinking water."
• "The programme of activities is at times unsuitable for children in the early years age group. The staff’s lack of understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework results in a poorly planned environment.

Less than two years after the drowning of a seven-year old at the LC/Harpers operated Blackwater Leisure Centre, the Health and Safety Executive has issued an Immediate Prohibition Notice following another incident.

A Council report reviewing leisure maintenance found fault with LC/Harpers.

" Client-contractor meeting minutes also indicate that various items of remedial work were identified and Leisure Connection undertook to address them e.g. the pool underwater lights. It is also apparent that at least some of these works were not actually undertaken...   It is apparent that Leisure Connection had not maintained the building in the condition it was required to, and that the Council had been unable to ensure that it did so... "

• The changing rooms absolutely stank of urine and there was black mould around the side of the pool. There’s no way I’m going back there – swimming pools and changing areas should be hygienic places, not filthy." 
• "The changing rooms and everywhere in general is dirty."
• “I will never return there, we should not put up with such disgusting facilities.”

A three-year study of a scheme to encourage swimming, which included two LC/Harpers run centres, had some interesting comments about private contractors in general. The report noted:
"The nature of private sector contractors operating local authority swimming pools creates a short term focus. The terms of contracts pre-date Everyday Swim and therefore the project has to fit around the contracts. Managers are judged and focussed primarily on their unit's 'bottom line' and this can lead to the adoption of short term approaches. Managers are loathe to make changes to their programmes and to displace sessions that perform acceptably in financial terms with sessions whose returns are unknown. The two principles of innovation and sustainability have been perceived as potentially conflicting by some partners."

"And now it has been revealed that the one security guard contracted to alleviate anti-social behaviour during evenings and peak times has been shown the door. One distraught mother contacted the Journal on Monday after intimidation by teenage thugs left her shaken. The anonymous parent said: "The place is over-run by yobs effing and blinding. On my way in last night, they were jumping on the car park barrier and shouting terrible, obscene things at me and my child." ... The news came as more readers got in touch to vent their anger at the "disgraceful" facilities following last week's Journal investigation."

A 2007 report listing major failures in basic H&S at a Harrow centre operated by LC has come to light. As well as the reports from 2005 and 2009, and 2008 police criticisms of the company, the 2007 report refers to an earlier H&S prosecution. Among the horrors discovered in 2007 were: insufficient staff, including lifeguards; missing duty managers; national procedures that did not work locally: dirty kitchen; unsupervised children’s area; and “The standard of cleanliness is poor; that coupled with a low standard of maintenance makes the place seem drab and unhygienic.” 

“The operations manager had been on a pool management course but appeared to be unclear about the significance of the pool readings. At times the pool readings were outside safe operations parameters but these were not picked up or dosing etc adjusted to bring these back in line. Readings had been filled in but it is questionable whether all were actual readings or assumed. On some shifts, readings had been missed completely."

“The kitchen for public hire was extremely dirty and ill-kept There were also clear breaches of food hygiene rules and codes of good practice… dirty sinks and toilets, week-old layers of oil and fat on kitchen cookers, broken fire doors… no written safety procedures are in place for receiving deliveries of chemicals for the swimming pool … tests on the level of chemicals in the pool were at times outside safe levels and at other times missing completely."

Is it just me or do you get the feeling that the Leisure Connection brand is being downplayed and Harpers Fitness being pushed harder? Go to www.leisureconnection.co.uk and Harpers features at the top of the home page. Click on "Leisure Sport and Fitness" and you arrive at http://www.harpersfitness.co.uk/  Don’t bother looking for centres at the old website; all the LC venues are now at Harpers – not that the old homepage tells you this.

What could have prompted these changes? In the nuclear and other industries, disaster management is often a factor in rebranding. Is LC bracing itself for an even more serious dent to its public image? PB

30.1.09 St Albans - "Out-of-order lift sinks disabled Ken's pool visits" 30.1.09

30.1.09 Stoke Mandeville - "Faulty equipment bars disabled swimmers from the home of Paralympics"  29.1.09

POLICE had to shut down one of the largest entertainment venue in Harrow amid fears the management had lost control.... after a fight involving up to 50 young people broke out inside the hall during the event. ...Sergeant Carl Davis...said Byron Hall and the adjoining Harrow Leisure Centre has a “consistent problem with crime and disorder”, and pointed the finger squarely at Leisure Connection for not doing enough to tackle the problem. He added managers have “stalled, dithered, dawdled, and smoke-screened” over a number of years to avoid putting in adequate security measures, such as CCTV alarm systems, and employing enough bouncers, as requested by the police.

Residents are calling for a change of management after problems at Harrow Leisure Centre... complaints ranging from poor maintenance to lack of security...

Harrow Council ...  said the building is in a state of disrepair but wanted to replace it, a project scrapped when funding fell through... ...a swimmer at the centre said they should develop rather than scaring people off. "I'd like to see them replace the current contractors with people who would get the place up and running like they should.” 

The Councillor responsible said he knew there were problems. “They've got a contract for two more years and if I terminate that contract before then I will need money to buy them out....  I'm not going to spend a lot of money to buy them out of an old building.”  He said his department  told Leisure Connection that the council is not responsible for its staffing problems and the company itself must solve them.

 “The (monitoring) sheets used by Vale Farm are not fit for purpose “ “…no audit programme of how staff are performing the tasks…”  Testing tablets had no expiry date. Manufacturer not contacted after failure.  “What happens to these reports was my next question. Again blank faces. It seems no one apart from the head office sees these reports.”  “…no one had actually read the (health improvement) notice to see what it entailed…” “The gradual rise (in chlorine readings) should have been observed. Because of some of the above failures this did not take place. At this point I stated that for all I know these figures could just be made up. This might be a strong possibility.”

The Concerns include cleanliness, no evidence of safety checks,  staffing and training worries raised "consistently", high levels of bacteria, excessive chlorine, and pool water testing equipment in "very poor condition".

Headings from 2007      Headings from 2006     Headings from 2004 to 2005