South Kesteven

South Kesteven see also Deepings & Grantham

Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, like other South Kesteven District Council leisure centres managed by LC / Harpers, has an inglorious record over several years – see below and at Grantham and Deepings.

Last year Rob Shorrock made a Freedom of Information request to SKCD about council rectification notices and user complaints relating to the Grantham Centre since 2005. (The request and reply can be seen at What Do They Know.)

Complaints - please find attached a spreadsheet which provides the information requested. Please note that prior to 2009 complaints received by the leisure centres were not forwarded to SKDC and therefore information prior to that time is not fully complete. All complaints since the start of 2009 are now fully monitored by SKDC and have been resolved up to the end of November 2009. Also prior to the complaints collected by Asset and Facilities they were collected by Leisure andCultural Services and unfortunately these records were not retained when the service transferred

No financial penalties have been made, however any payments due to Leisure Connection for services were delayed until such time as all rectifications were completed. Please note that information relating to pre Sept 2006 is not available.

The spreadsheet included in the reply showed that figures available “to date” (not specified) for 2009. A total of 255 complaints were made about the Grantham centre. This total includes 30 about cleaning in the changing rooms, 74 about maintenance (especially for the pool) and 45 complaints about equipment.

Rob Shorrock had concerns about LC / Harpers. He complained to SKDC after the council awarded preferred bidder status for the provision of the leisure management contract to Leisure Connection in March 2008. At the same time, SKDC decided to seek to transfer it the lease for its leisure facilities to a charitable trust.

It appears that most of the work to obtain charitable status was delegated to LC/Harpers, who have made similar arrangements for other local authorities. Despite their past experience LC / Harpers did not succeed at setting up a trust.

“Councillor Thompson spoke to the Council as the member appointed by it to the Leisure Trust. He referred to the issues behind the need to provide a supplementary estimate. The failure of the Leisure Trust to gain charitable status was, he asserted, due to the procrastination of the Charities Commission. The pursuit of the charitable status had been entirely at the expense of the contractor, Leisure Connection who had expended over £400,000. Over a year had passed and the Charities Commission had still not reached a decision. Leisure Connection could no longer afford to fund the process. Councillor Thompson stated he had made personal representations to the Charities Commission to demonstrate how the Leisure Trust could have delivered better services to the community through the Trust. However, the Commission had requested further information regarding the community benefit. Councillor Thompson acknowledged the position of Leisure Connection and had no criticisms of their decision in the circumstances.”

When LCW made the Charities Commission aware of this allegation, the Commission provided the following statement.

The Charity Commission aims to consider registration applications as quickly as possible. However, where applications are more complex or we require further information to fully understand what the organisation was set up to do or how it operates, applications may take longer to consider.

The Charity Commission received an application to register as a charity from South Kesteven Community Leisure Limited on 10 September 2008.

We considered the information provided to us in the application, but needed more details about the activities of the company and its links with South Kesteven District Council and a commercial leisure provider, Leisure Connection Limited, before we could consider the application further. We were in correspondence with the company throughout Autumn 2008, requesting this further information, and we also met with the company at the end of January 2009. The company provided us with further information in February 2009, and due to the complex nature of the application, it took time for this information to be formally considered.

We wrote to the solicitors acting for South Kesteven Community Leisure Limited on 01 July 2009, explaining that on the basis of the information provided, we could not be satisfied that the company was established for exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit and were therefore unable to proceed with the application for registration. The solicitors acting for the company confirmed that they were discussing our response with their client but we have not had any further correspondence to date.

The Council gave the go ahead for the leisure trust in March 2008 but LC/Harpers did not submit an application for registration to the Commission until September. If Councillor Thompson accuses the Charity Commission of procrastination, how does he describe the six-month delay by LC / Harpers? What did the company waste £400k on, if it failed to convince the Charity Commission that the proposed trust met all legal requirements to be recognised as a Charity?

Despite the poor record of LC / Harpers poor at SKDC, not to mention other centres, following the failure to set up a leisure trust, the Council Cabinet meeting on 7/9/09 awarded the existing contractor “an initial short term interim Leisure Management agreement for the provision of its leisure services” at the Bourne, Deepings, Grantham and Stamford centres, and stated that “The Council engages proactively with Leisure Connection Ltd regarding the potential to introduce an Industrial Provident Society (IPS) management structure within South Kesteven.”

Inland Revenue, rather than the Charities Commission, recognizes an IPS as a charitable body. What lies behind the efforts to secure charitable status is tax avoidance.

As Rob Shorrock was concerned about the council’s decision to re-engage LC /Harpers, at the time of his FOI request he also wrote:

As a former district councillor, my understanding was that the Leisure trust would be created to develop an arms’ length arrangement for running council leisure services following the expiry of leisure connections contract at the end of March 2008. Instead, the council has decided to extend leisure connections contract (my complaint related to the efficacy of doing this given Leisure Connections poor performance record).

My understanding of this decision is that the council was waiting for charitable status to be granted for the leisure trust which will operate a leisure management contract and commission leisure connections as the delivery agent.

Prior to being invited onto the tender list Leisure Connection had to satisfy the council and its advisers on the proposed new contract tender documentation that they were able to meet the stringent new performance measures within the appropriate criteria. Several tenders were received at that time and after a rigorous awards process Leisure Connection were chosen as the preferred supplier, having agreed to meet all of the specified standards and having provided the most economically advantageous bid to the council. The inability of the charities commission to award charitable status to Leisure Connection for the proposed model has meant that the council has awarded an interim 12 month contract pending review and consideration of alternative trust options provided by Leisure Connection.

There has been a drop in performance over recent weeks, albeit under some extenuating circumstances. This is obviously not acceptable and we are addressing these issues with Leisure Connection as appropriate. Leisure Connection has been informed in no uncertain terms that a more permanent contract depends upon the level of their improvement programme in achieving the specified performance standards. Our proposed permanent contract documentation includes stringent output related performance measures which include heavy financial penalties, beyond those seen in previous documentation, and you can be assured that it is our intention to impose these rigorously. This aside, recent press reports have not been entirely accurate and some of the complaints seen recently relate to difficulties experienced during the summer with the massive uptake on free swimming and the difficulties experienced in controlling unaccompanied teenagers who have been venturing around the leisure centre causing some operational difficulties.

However, there is no doubt that improvements are necessary. I can only reiterate our determination to achieve the highest standards for the leisure centres within our district so that our customers can enjoy the best possible experience…

Thanks for your response. I am unhappy with this response and would like to request that this complaint is taken to the next stage in the complaints procedure.

In my original complaint, I had serious concerns about the efficacy of the process. Information supplied through my Freedom of Information request has revealed that the performance of Leisure Connection, on the basis of complaints received, is far worse than was indicated in the response to my complaint. In 2009, 255 complaints are recorded against the previous year of 28. Given that the council never received complaints made directly to Leisure Connections before 2009, and Leisure Connections has no internal complaints data available before this time, this isn't totally surprising. However, it also suggests that the real picture of performance problems was never fully available to those involved in the commissioning process in 2008 about the number of complaints being sent directly to Leisure Connections under the existing arrangements.

I would contend that if they had this data then the outcome could possibly have been different.

The response to my complaints suggests that complaints have risen due to the introduction of free swimming. However, according to the data for 2009 the bulk of complaints relate to maintenance and the swimming pool and it is not clear from this data which complaints relate to the increase in demand brought about the introduction of free swimming for under 16s. Can you clarify, which complaints relate to this in the data? …

LCW looks forward to publishing SKDC’s response, or one from LC / Harpers to the above. PB

Mother fears staffing cuts at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre could compromise child safety

A MOTHER has raised concerns over child safety following a reduction in staff teaching young children to swim at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre. Jo Gilfedder has pulled her four-year-old son from group swimming lessons after managers decided to cut class sizes from eight children to six, and reduce tutors from two to one. Previously, children have benefited from lessons with one teacher in the pool and one poolside. However, bosses say the extra tutors have only been present due to training.

Mrs Gilfedder, 39, of Highcliffe Road, Grantham, feels it is dangerous to allow one poolside tutor to supervise six children. She said: "It's just a way of saving money, but some of these are four- or five-year-old children. All the parents are up in arms. Now, I'm going to have to pay £15 for a one-to-one lesson instead of £5 for group lessons."

Leisure Connection manages leisure centres in the district on behalf of South Kesteven District Council. Leisure Connection regional manager Mike Darlison defended the decision to cut staff, saying class sizes are matched to teacher supervision "in line with Amateur Swimming Association recommendations and to maximise the use of our pool". He added: "Most classes are recommended to be taught from poolside, so we have moved to a one teacher per class programme, with a further assistant being brought in to provide in-pool support for groups where there are pupils with specific needs. We rely on advice from our aquatics advisor on site and our regional swim manager to ensure we meet all required supervision levels."

Mr Darlison would not confirm staff redundancies, but said: "Staffing remains constantly under review on all our contracts, especially in a recession."

He added: "This is not about job cuts. Due to the growth in our swim schools, particularly in Grantham, we have in fact introduced more classes to accommodate more children and we're training more assistant swimming teachers to become fully qualified. We're always looking for more swimming teachers so would love to hear from anyone interested in a career in swim tuition."

The Meres Leisure Centre holds 143 swimming classes every week as well as free swimming lessons as part of the Government's learn-to-swim initiative.

LC/Harpers seems hell-bent on alienating the locals. One might have hoped that after the recent bad press – see below – every effort would be made to steady the boat. Instead, despite the protest that this is not about job cuts, and the flannel about looking for more swimming assistants and teachers, Mr Darlison would not rule out redundancies.

I question the figure of 143 swimming classes. There is nothing like this number of classes listed on the pool timetable. www.harpersfitness.co.uk/assets/media/files/tt/Grantham%20Meres/15913%20PT%20Grantham%206pp_low.pdf If the figure came from LC/Harpers then I suspect school use of the pool has been added. Another possibility is counting each person teaching and assisting a fully qualified teacher as a separate class.

Mr Darlison claims that classes are in line with ASA guidelines, but I can find no specific ASA guideline for under-fives. The figure of 1:12 that he quotes presumably comes from the maximum ratio given for adult and children – that is when both the adult and the child are learners in the water. http://209.20.80.25/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,5157-1-1-121152-0-file,00.pdf The same document makes clear that pool operators and teachers have to consider a range of factors is assessing risk and deciding what is a reasonable ratio. PB

Managers of Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre have cut back on security at a time when anti-social behaviour is reportedly through the roof. The news came as more readers got in touch to vent their anger at the "disgraceful" facilities following last week's Journal investigation. We reported how we challenged bosses after an undercover investigation of swimming facilities unearthed mould, rust, litter, closed facilities, the foul odour of urine and rampaging yobs. 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."

Readers have added fuel to the fire this week, criticising Leisure Connection management, staff shortages and lack of public swimming during evenings. Leisure Connection runs the leisure centre on behalf of South Kesteven District Council. Both parties meet fortnightly to discuss problems. Report anti-social behaviour on freephone 0800 183 0279.

(Note that LC’s response below does not deny the charge that security was reduced, nor apologise for the poor service that people have complained about over time. The company’s words are merely PR flannel. Of course lifeguards get sick occasionally, but better managed pools inconvenience the public less, because they have enough staff to cope with the odd absence, either on site already, or available at short notice. PB)

Mike Darlison, regional manager at Leisure Connection, said: "We are extremely proud to work with South Kesteven District Council on delivering a truly inclusive and very extensive timetable of swimming and sporting activities for all sections of the community in Grantham. Last week, we had over 8,500 visitors to the Meres Leisure Centre, during which time we received two formal complaints. South Kesteven District Council also has three other leisure centres – Stamford, Deepings and Bourne – bringing our visitor total to more than 20,000 last week.

"We take any complaints from our customers very seriously and it is important that we learn from these to make sure that the service improves. When any concerns are raised we're obviously anxious to resolve them as quickly as we can. Some of the problems identified should have been remedied sooner but we have now put in place a number of measures to resolve the issues raised.

“We continually strive to minimise pool closures as we know how disappointing it can be for our visitors. These can often be for essential cleaning purposes for example if someone is ill in the pool, but occasionally if a lifeguard is sick we have to close the pool until we can ensure the necessary number of lifeguards are on duty. Safety is our first priority. We will be putting in place improved contingency plans to cover short notice staff absences. Our teams regularly walk-the-floor to monitor and maintain the cleanliness of the facility. We will also be introducing a cleaning monitoring system similar to those used in many other public places which will provide a clear guide as to when areas were last inspected and cleaned. We review our security requirements on a weekly basis and a security guard will be in place as long as it is required."

Paul Stokes, SKDC's head of resources and organisational development, said: "Leisure Connection manages four leisure centres on our behalf and we will continue to work very closely with them on these specific complaints to ensure that they are rectified as quickly as possible. We will closely monitor the centre to continually improve all aspects of the service and will carry on meeting every fortnight with the management team at the Meres. We also work closely with our community safety team about any reported incidents of antisocial behaviour. If members of the public have any concerns about anti-social behaviour, either outside the centre or in the surrounding area please report it on our freephone number 0800 183 0279."

At least the Council acknowledges there have been complaints that need rectification, but the talk about monitoring and meetings rings hollow, given the history of poor service at Meres and the other SKDC leisure centres.

It is interesting to see that Mike Darlison is referred to as a "Leisure Connection" manager, despite the major rebranding exercise that has seen many references to LC phased out at centres and the use of Harpers Fitness instead (e.g. information about the centre is now at www.harpersfitness.co.uk/gyms/grantham-meres-leisure-centre/). This raises the possibility that LC is used more for bad news and Harpers more for good news. PB)

The Meres Leisure Centre is branded 'a filthy, smelly, vile, unruly dive' Reproduced in full apart from photographs

READERS are fed up to the back teeth with conditions at Grantham's Meres Leisure Centre. They say it's filthy, smelly and overrun with unruly kids. So the Journal went undercover to find out the truth - and showed the evidence to leisure centre bosses. Over the past five weeks, the Journal has gone at varying times three times a week armed with a camera and notebook to record its findings.

We found a litter-strewn changing room, mouldy shower heads and teenage yobs running riot. The stench of urine in the changing room was sometimes overwhelming, the pool temperatures felt cold and the jacuzzi and adjoining splash pool were open only once.

The leisure centre is managed by Leisure Connection (which is also known as Harpers Fitness) on behalf of South Kesteven District Council. The Journal showed its evidence to Paul Stokes, SKDC's corporate head of resources and organisational development, and Leisure Connection management.

Mr Stokes said: "We wanted to make this our flagship leisure centre for the district, which it hasn't been. We are working hard, both the council and Leisure Connection, to bring everything to an improvement. But we need people to work with us. We have ceiling tiles pushed out, people dropping litter on the floor and parents leaving dirty nappies in the changing rooms. We're committed to making this work, but we need everyone behind us."

He added that free swimming for under-16s "brought with it numerous problems" as the uptake was more than anticipated. In April alone, when the Government's free swimming initiative was launched, there were 15,000 visits from youngsters.

Some 148 hours' cleaning are carried out per week by an external cleaning company and two cleaners are employed by Leisure Connection.

Leisure centre bosses have now vowed to make improvements before Christmas.

Well done Grantham Journal for compiling the evidence over five weeks. This makes the attempt by Mr Stokes to counter the story appear very lame, as the conditions are clearly not a one-off, but persistent. They are also similar to issues reported before in South Kesteven and in other Harpers / LC run facilities. Many leisure centres have some inconsiderate users and vandals, but do not allow conditions to fester in this way..

Photos on the Journal website include:
"Litter strewn changing room" x2
"A missing shower unit"
"A grotty green shower head"
"Rust in the changing room"
"Rusty mouldy steps"
"One of several missing or wonky ceiling tiles"

Not bad for a company that claims to be "Delivering Excellence in Leisure" PB

5.5.05 Council report recommends local leisure trust to replace LC at the end of their contract in 2008.

Information on LC's performance obtained under Freedom of Information

South Kesteven District Council responded with the email below and a report from July 2004 on the previous year's performance by LC. Both documents are produced in full with some information highlighted.

In summary, for the five centres LC managed between 1.1.03 and 28.2.05 LC received 722 rectification notices and were fined on 25 occasions for not meeting the contract standards. For one centre, Grantham Meres, there were 304 formal complaints between May 2003 and May 2004. Another two centres received 107 formal complaints in roughly the same period. Despite Grantham Meres having so many complaints and the lion's share of the fines, it scored higher than other South Kesteven centres on its Quest Accreditation!

Frequent complaints were about cleaning, staff, catering, maintenance, fitness facilities, swimming and programmes.

From: ANDY ALLEN
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005
To: Paul Burns
Subject: Freedom of Information Act

Following your request to South Kesteven District Council for information relating to the performance of Leisure Connection Ltd within the South Kesteven District Council Leisure Services Contract, I am able to provide you with the following information.

RECTIFICATION NOTICES
For the period 1/1/2003 to 28/2/2005, the Contract Monitoring Unit of SKDC have issued 722 rectification notices across the 5 facilities which Leisure Connection manage. (Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, Bourne Leisure Centre, Stamford Leisure Centre, Deepings Leisure Centre and South Kesteven District Council). Rectification notices do not necessarily carry any financial penalty. They simply highlight work required or issues at the time of the inspection.

FINANCIAL PENALTIES
Financial penalties are incurred if the Inspection score does not reach 90% pass = Level 2 default £250.
Level 1 defaults are incurred if the Contractor does not complete a rectification notice/task within the given time period = Level 1 default £25.

Within the time period you have requested the Contractor has incurred the following number of Level 1 and Level 2 defaults:

Grantham Meres 16
Deepings 7
South Kesteven Sports Stadium 3
Stamford 0
Bourne 2

FORMAL COMPLAINTS
SKDC have received the following number of formal complaints relating to the services provided by Leisure Connection Ltd, within the time period you are interested:

Grantham Meres 16
Deepings 6
South Kesteven Sports Stadium 2
Stamford 0
Bourne 6

CUSTOMER COMMENTS/COMPLAINTS ANALYSIS
The period up to the end of June 04 is contained within the word document attachment.
Since then and up to end February 2005, Leisure Connection have received the following comments for each centre, on their customer comments forms

Grantham                                Positive 11     Negative 55
Deepings                                Positive 2      Negative 5
South Kesteven Sports Stadium           Positive 0      Negative 0
Stamford                                Positive 17     Negative 4
Bourne                                  Positive 6      Negative 43

For information - we have over a million annual visitors to our Leisure Centres.

Some of the above information is not available in electronic form, so I have provided you with the statistical analysis. If you would like any copies of the paper format you will have to let me know.