Meeting documents

Considered report previously circulated, that set out the operational and financial performance that GLL provided for Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC).  GLL raised concerns in terms of usage numbers and income noting that they were adrift of their income budgeted position, however, they had mitigated this through reduced expenditure.  The current agreement did not pass any of the risk onto TDBC.

During the discussion of this item, Members made comments and statements and asked questions which included:-

·         Members queried whether the bad weather from earlier in 2018 had impacted on the GLL service.

There had been an impact, especially at Vivary Golf Course which had been highlighted within the report.  The flooding at the start of the year and the snow in March had meant that they had lost 34 days of use at the golf course.  The rest of the leisure facilities had lost a couple of day’s trade due to the snow.

·         Members highlighted a concern raised by a member of the public that when he had visited Taunton Pool he struggled to access the pool due to clubs and other organised activities taking place.

When St James pool closed in 2016, the pool programme was spread between the remaining two pools in Taunton and therefore the public swimming time was reduced in Taunton Pool.  However, since then, the public swimming time has been made available but it has been spread over all the pools within Taunton Deane and not just in one location.

·         Members praised the work carried out on two of the four pillars, Better People and Better Community.  However, concern was raised over Better Business.  Members had been made aware of several issues at Blackbrook Leisure Centre, one of which were the gates and that they were not in use again, they queried how could GLL monitor visitors and payments for use of the facilities.  This was not useful for financial monitoring.  Concern was also raised over the low standard of customer service being provided, cancellation of classes at short notice and the standard of cleanliness at the pool. 

The Senior Manager accepted that the gates had been out of order for too long and explained that they had been having issues with the supplier, but this would be chased.  He reassured Members that the protection of income was being monitored.  Cleanliness was being worked on and the ‘no shoe’ policy seemed to have helped.  He was aware that customer service needed to improve but there had been challenges with vacancies and sickness levels.  These issues would be reported back to the general manager at Blackbrook to ensure improvements were made.

·         Members queried the first two paragraphs within the report that detailed the results for Better Service.   The net promoter score showed customer satisfaction was under 50% in July 2018 then in the next paragraph it stated the results of a survey showed the satisfaction level was up to 85%.  How was that achieved?

The survey was based on a snapshot of visitors to the pool and asked a multitude of questions about the facility, where the net promoter score was based on one question in a survey that was sent to all members that had a valid email address.

·         Concern was raised on the decrease in service levels at Wellington Sports Centre.  Members queried what had caused the decline.  They also queried whether any information had been sent out to the new housing developments in Wellington to advertise the facilities.

The Senior Manager was aware that a couple of other sports centres had opened within the town which could have led to the decline due to the competitive market.  The numbers for the swim school had increased but general sports membership had declined.  There was more that could be done with the marketing in the new developments, but they had attended a couple of community events and school fetes to promote the facilities.  The officers identified that the positive draw to the Wellington Sports Centre compared to the other centres in the town was the pool.

·         Members praised the instructors and their high level of customer service, however, the same could not be said of the service provided at reception which needed to be improved. 

·         Members requested more information on the service levels compared to the financial details in future.

·         Members of the public raised further concerns about problems with the hot water supply, disabled users of the facilities and the challenges they faced, problems with phone calls not being answered and changes in classes.

The Senior Manager addressed their concerns.

Resolved that the Committee noted the content of the report.