Agenda item

The Panel will receive a presentation by representatives from SLM.

The Panel received a presentation from the SLM Contract Manager, supported by the SLM Operations Manager and General Manager, on the service provision of the SLM Contract.  At the conclusion, the Chair asked if there were any questions.

Councillor Counter asked whether there was an electronic survey device on customer feedback at Woodside Leisure Centre as the one at Central Leisure Centre had proved most useful.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that there was and this was currently located in the Cafeteria - although it was relocated regularly to capture feedback from the broadest range of users

Councillor Counter asked whether there were plans to carry out another customer questionnaire.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that one had recently been conducted and these would be carried out annually with results fed back to the Client Team.  Councillor Counter asked what changes were made as a result of the surveys.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that the main improvements were around cleaning and maintenance (always key issues) where work had been undertaken with the contract teams to enhance services.

Councillor Counter asked whether there would be any value in putting notices in the leisure centres asking people to leave the facilities in the condition in which they were found.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that some notices were already displayed but it was unclear as to whether people actually read them so their value was a little questionable.

The Chair asked why the cleaning figures at Central were not at such a high standard as at Woodside.  The SLM Contract Manager said he was aware that improvements were needed at Central and that changes were being made to address the issues.

Councillor Joynes asked when the ‘Everyone Health’ programme was introduced.  The SLM Contract Manager informed her that this centralised team were set up in March 2014 to work more closely with council’s on SLM’s contribution to the Public Health agenda and had recently won an obesity programme contract elsewhere in the country.  Councillor Joynes asked what qualifications SLM healthcare professionals were required to hold.  The SLM Area Contract Manager explained that these employees had wide experience of working in the field of public health.

Councillor Joynes asked for an explanation of the QUEST accreditation.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that this provided a complete and thorough look at the organisation so all aspects of the business and service delivery were assessed and graded.  This included such processes as ‘mystery shoppers’ who would report back on the level of service they had received.  In effect, QUEST was the industry standard benchmark accreditation for best practice and continual improvement.  He reassured the Panel that it was not simply a box ticking exercise and was more a validation of services as opposed to an assessment. 

Councillor Hastrick asked how people were referred in to the ‘Everyone Health’ programme.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that this was a new healthcare division and their recent contract elsewhere in the country included referrals being made by GP’s to the fitness pathways with programmes running for 10 to 12 weeks for clients.  At present, there were 200 clients on the programme - which sought to help with such issues as obesity and smoking. The local GP referral scheme was set up three years ago and involved personal trainers who had been trained to adapt exercise programmes to the needs of those with medical conditions.  Local GPs and other health professionals referred people with a range of health conditions into the programme.

Councillor Hastrick made reference to clients sent by GP’s to librarys to obtain information on fitness pathways and asked how ‘buy in’ was obtained by health workers.  The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services explained in detail the new funding arrangements for Public Health preventative projects with the move from Primary Care Trusts to the Public Health Board (at County Council level). The existing Watford GP referral scheme with SLM was a local project set up three years ago through funding channels in existence prior to the change in commissioning arrangements. There was now a county wide drive to improve exercise referral schemes generally - making these more comprehensive, and seeking greater involvement by the health professionals.  She explained that the Council’s role in the new arrangements was to act as a conduit and enabler and that we would work with SLM to ensure the services they could offer were brought to the attention of the county-wide commissioning process.

Councillor Dhindsa commented that the recent visit by the Panel to Woodside Leisure Centre was very good and asked whether figures on membership by age/gender/ethnicity/local resident could be provided.

ACTION - Contract Monitoring Officer

Councillor Dhindsa made reference to the 14 percent of BME staff employed by SLM at the two leisure centres and asked if information as to their levels/grades could be provided.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that the majority would be exercise instructors and he undertook to provide the data.

ACTION - Corporate, Leisure & Community Section Head

Councillor Dhindsa made reference to the apparent inappropriate behaviour of some SLM staff towards female swimmers at the women’s only session.  He wondered whether training could be provided to help educate staff in this regard - commenting there were always two sides to any potential misunderstanding.  The SLM Contract Manager confirmed that SLM provided training as part of the staff induction programme but advised that any incidents causing concern to customers should be raised at the time with the duty manager on shift so that individual issues could be identified and responded to in order to resolve them.   The Partnership and Performance Section Head clarified that when services were outsourced, the Council retained responsibility for equality issues and she confirmed that any concerns should be raised at the time with SLM with the exact details being given and escalated if not dealt with to the client team.

Councillor Dhindsa asked whether there might be the possibility of increasing women only swimming sessions.   The SLM Contract Manager explained that a balanced programme had to be maintained to serve all customers.  The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services said that the recent review identified that  the main pool was not being used to capacity during this session but that attendees preferred to gather in the small pool to wade and socialise.  As the intention of the Women only swim sessions was to encourage physical activity for this group, there was a need to re-examine the purpose of these sessions and solutions, such as a course of swimming lessons to encourage the participants to gain confidence in using the large pool, may be better rather than expanding the provision.  The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services said that a more detailed look would be undertaken in to this with a survey of users being carried out - working in partnership with SLM.

The Chair asked about the ongoing competency test for staff.  The SLM Contract Manager explained this was an annual multi-choice examination which had to be re-taken if failed and was based on the induction 22 slide presentation.  The Chair asked about the failure rate. The SLM Operations Manager responded that no one had failed the test thus far, albeit that a 20 out of 20 score was required to pass.  The test was taken following refresher training on the induction programme.  Councillor Dhindsa asked that a copy of the test questions be made available to the Panel.

ACTION - Corporate, Leisure & Community Section Head

Councillor Counter asked when the Woodside showers would be refurbished.  The SLM Operations Manager explained that works would commence next week and be completed within a fortnight.  Councillor Counter asked if the shower drains were operating effectively and the SLM Operations Manager explained that these had been checked recently and appeared satisfactory.  Councillor Counter commented that she had seen an improvement but there were still issues with the drainage.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that further investigation would be conducted in to this aspect.

Councillor Counter asked how often spin bikes were replaced.  The SLM Operations Manager explained that these were regularly checked, maintained and calibrated and that they were changed approximately every five years.

The Chair asked about the climbing wall review time scale.  The SLM Contract Manager explained that this would be reviewed in the next quarter and the consensus appeared to be that these should take place so as to enhance usage opportunities.  The Chair asked why children under eight years old were prohibited from using the wall.  The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services explained that the wall had originally been installed for what could be described as climbing ‘purists’ as opposed to the St Albans Rock Box offer which was more targeted at parties and family usage.  However, this may not be serving Watford as a whole and in effect the contract could be subsidising what could be termed as an elite sport.  As a result, the situation should be reviewed over the next 12 months when it may be that difficult decisions had to be made and appropriate changes introduced.  Councillor Counter asked whether the climbers using the service had been involved in the revised marketing of the climbing wall and the SLM Contract Manager explained that they had.