Agenda item

Report DRR16/082

Representatives of Mytime Active introduced a report setting out the Mytime Active Annual Report 2015/16 and requested that the Committee consider the Local Authority’s report and proposals regarding the investment fund that was provided annually to Mytime Active by the Local Authority.

During 2015/16, Mytime Active had achieved over 4.1million visits across their facilities, which was an increase of 17% on the previous year.  The membership base had also increased by 18% and was now in excess of 16,000 members.  Mytime Active provided a range of initiatives and programmes to support healthy and active lifestyles for all ages including the Primetime programme for older people and a pilot project for people with mild to moderate depression developed in partnership with Bromley and Lewisham Mind and Bromley Mencap.  The MyFuture project which offered young people in disadvantaged areas access to weekly sports and dance activities had been recognised with two national awards, winning the 2015 ukactive Flame Awards ‘Shaping Young Lives’ category and the London Sportivate Awards ‘Project of the Year’.  A range of discounted memberships, promotions and schemes for people from disadvantaged groups or on low incomes continued to be delivered across the Borough.  Mytime Active’s revenues had been £32.6m for 2015/16, which was a small increase on the previous year.

Proposals for a five year rolling programme of spending from the Investment Fund were outlined which represented Mytime Active’s key service areas of improvement and reflected the £200k annual reduction from 2019/20 agreed with the Local Authority.  It was proposed that the Investment Fund be used to increase capacity of the wet-side changing rooms within the Pavilion Leisure Centre, support a repair and replacement programme of customer lifts, fund Phase 3 of the final equipment upgrade and refurbish High Elms Gold Course changing facilities.

Marg Mayne, Chief Executive, Jason Stanton, Operations Director, Adam Smith, Leisure Divisional Manager and Debra Weekes, Partnerships Manager, Mytime Active attended the meeting for the presentation of this item.

In discussion, Members were generally pleased to note the range of initiatives and discounted memberships offered by Mytime Active to people from disadvantaged groups.  A Member queried how community projects were advertised, and Debra Weekes confirmed that Mytime Active promoted community projects in a range of ways including work with local partners such as housing associations, and via social media.  A recent initiative to support older men to become more active had been promoted very successfully through a poster and leaflet campaign with over 800 participants joining the scheme.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman around the impact of low cost competitors, Adam Smith reported that Mytime Active targeted the family market by promoting the wide range of facilities it offered, which included swimming pools and soft play provision.  Increased competition had impacted the income from the rental of Beckenham Public Hall, Crofton Hall and The Great Hall, but Beckenham Public Hall and Crofton Hall had recently been refurbished and it was hoped that this would increase rental levels.  In terms of customer satisfaction, customers were generally complimentary about staff and services.  The most common theme for complaints was around the cleanliness of facilities which were acted on promptly when received, and Mytime Active continued to work to identify how facilities could be improved through capital investment.

A Member queried if Mytime Active took a role in promoting healthy eating.  Marg Mayne advised that Mytime Active undertook a range of healthy eating work across London including the MEND Programme which was an obesity prevention and treatment programme for children and young people, and that the food and beverage offer across all Mytime Active leisure centres was based around healthy choices.

With regard to external funding streams, Debra Weekes confirmed that Mytime Active was able to make bids to Arts Council England to support existing projects including the MyFuture and ArtsTrain projects and would continue to make applications for a range of funds to support schemes as appropriate.  Sport England had recently launched their updated funding strategy and would be releasing new funding streams shortly.

In considering staffing, Adam Smith underlined that Mytime Active was committed to paying above the living wage requirements which had helped to support recruitment and retention.  It was recognised that some sites were more remote, such as Biggin Hill Library and Pool and where possible staff at these locations were contracted for more committed hours to support retention.  Mytime Active recognised that the leisure industry was attractive to young people as their entry into employment and had established an apprenticeship programme that it hoped to build in on future years.

Councillor David Jefferys noted that a number of Mytime Active initiatives reflected key issues identified within the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, such as obesity and mental health needs, and agreed to meet with representatives of Mytime Active to discuss how the Local Authority could work with Mytime Active to resolve these issues.

The Chairman thanked the representatives of Mytime Active for attending the meeting.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

1)  Note the commentary within the report and any recommendations made by the Renewal and Recreation PDS Committee; and,

2)  Agree the release of the 2017/18 Investment Fund to upgrade facilities as detailed within Appendix 2 of the Mytime Active Annual Report 2015/16.