Agenda and minutes

Consider Minute of the Meeting held on 6 June 2023.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 6 June 2023.

DECISION

AGREED the Minute for signature by the Chair.

(a)        Consider report by Director Resilient Communities.  (Copy attached.)

(b)        Consider performance report presented by Ewan Jackson, Live Borders.  (Copy attached.)

2.1    There had been circulated a report by Jenni Craig, Director Resilient Communities, the purpose of which was to provide Members with performance information regarding the Live Borders partnership agreement for Quarter 1 2023/24. The report at Appendix 1 provided Members with performance information on the delivery of the commissioned sport, physical activity and cultural services.  Live Borders continued to face challenges including: lower than anticipated participation levels due to the cost of living crisis and a protracted recovery from the pandemic; inflation and energy costs; and continuing changes to the ways in which some services are consumed.  Members were reminded of the ongoing review of Live Borders provision agreement due to report in October 2023.  Key outputs from the review were to include both a revised SPA and robust, agreed performance management arrangements to enable stakeholders to monitor its delivery.

2.2     Ewan Jackson presented the report at Appendix 1.  Live Borders continued to operate in a challenging context particularly in the sporting and cultural sectors.  Action had been taken to reduce energy consumption but was limited by the age and condition of the estate, the plant and the machinery within the facilities; replacement boilers at the Gytes, Peebles and the air handling unit at Eyemouth pool were planned.   In terms of sports facilities, issues with plant and equipment had resulted in Eyemouth and Teviotdale leisure centres and Kelso pool being closed for short periods.  Peebles pool had reopened on 7 August.  Notwithstanding, approximately 270,000 sporting participations had been recorded in Q1.  Membership remained static with new memberships offset by lower than planned retention.  The new Live Borders app had been deployed with more than 10,000 downloads initially and a new loyalty card was being trialled. The percentage of bookings made through the app was to be provided at the next meeting.  Work was ongoing to establish a new ‘Youth Membership’ for the 12-17 year old cohort with low monthly fee and unlimited swim and gym use.  The ‘Get Ready for Summer’ initiative generated £2.5k and participation of 170 and two new yoga classes had sold out each week since launch.  The Learn2 membership was expected to grow with the reopening of Peebles pool and the increase in the number of suitably qualified instructors.  In addition, a programme of planned activities had been developed to generate income.  There was increased competition from the 50+ gym/studio providers in the Borders, both local and national providers.  Active Communities had performed strongly over Q1 across all offerings including newer offerings of Netball and Pickleball.  Holiday programme participation was in line with its target of approximately 1,000 while other festivals and events attracted almost 4,000.  Library membership continued to grow and there were plans to extend opening hours at Galashiels and Hawick libraries.  Two new mobile libraries had been ordered and a review of the mobile library routes and stock management/rotation had been undertaken.  Borrowbox and Pressreader use continued to grow.  Eyemouth RNID and the library service had partnered with the NHS to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

The next meeting of the External Services & Providers Monitoring Group (Live Borders) was scheduled for 5 December 2023 at 2pm.

The next meeting of the External Services/Providers Monitoring Group (Live Borders) was scheduled for 5 December 2023 at 2p.m.