Agenda item

The Committee considered the Strategic Leisure Delivery Framework update report of the Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth.  Alison Clark, Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism attended the meeting to present the report, which was a precursor to a report to a Special Joint meeting of the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the new year, on the Leisure Transformation Programme (for copy of report and presentation, see file of minutes). 

Introducing the presentation, the Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism referred to evidence which shows that physical activity supports overall physical, mental and emotional health.  Health in County Durham is below the national average and there is disparity in health and life expectancy within the county, with those living in the more affluent parts of the county living longer than those living in disadvantaged areas. Those living in disadvantaged areas of the county also have lower physical activity levels. In light of this, the focus on service delivery is to maximise resources to ensure access for all. 

The Committee noted current provision includes 14 indoor leisure facilities, a comprehensive community wellbeing programme and digital provision through the ‘My Wellness’ app.  Abbey Leisure Centre provides a Move Hub which is a service for those who wish to become more active or have been inactive due to ill-health or injury.  It is intended to establish Move Hubs across as many leisure facilities as possible.

The Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism explained that a major restructure of the service was undertaken in 2023 which led to the development of the Strategic Leisure Framework. She added that the framework has five priority themes of places, people, society, systems and enablers which will make the outcomes deliverable.  In terms of places, the service is striving to ensure assets are maximised such as the work on the Move Hubs and work within communities such as Sofa to Cycle at Shildon Leisure Centre.  The framework is designed to improve how the service works with partners, within and external to the Council, in order to better utilise the county’s outdoor assets. 

The Moving Together strategy, developed alongside County Durham Sport and Public Health will be launched in 2024 and this will set out the countywide strategy for a whole system approach to enable people to move each day.  The strategy has identified four key priority areas namely, children and young people; inclusive communities; active environments and health and social care settings. 

With regard to the next steps, the Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism spoke of the continued progress to make a difference to local communities by removing the barriers to physical activity.  Future plans include targeting specific areas such as the top 30% of areas of deprivation as well as older people, those with a long term illness and women and girls.  The Committee noted grant funding was secured from Sport England to develop a Moving Together pilot in Peterlee, to embed long-term lifestyle changes. 

The Chair thanked the officer for the presentation and invited comments and questions from the Committee.

Responding to a comment from Councillor Batey who raised concerns at the delay in the reporting of the Leisure Transformation Programme, the Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism commented that the Leisure Transformation Programme will be going to Cabinet early in the New Year, the Chair continued by informing the Committee that the Leisure Transformation Programme report will be considered at the Cabinet meeting on 14 February 2024 and that a Special joint meeting of the Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be arranged to take place as soon as possible thereafter.

Councillor Batey commented that the terms ‘strategy’ and ‘framework’ throughout the report were confusing and the Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism clarified that the overarching Moving Together strategy is a combined strategy with Public Health and County Durham Sport, whilst the local delivery framework seeks to set the context for service delivery within the strategy.

Councillor Adam referred to the four key priority areas of the Moving Together strategy and he questioned why children and young people were chosen as a key priority as opposed to older cohorts who may have more health needs and may be more restricted in their access to leisure facilities. The Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism explained that as young people are doing less than the recommended levels of exercise and there is an increase in the number of young people carrying excess weight in the county, this supports the approach to prioritise young people. However, the needs of older people and those less able are recognised and the development of the Move Hubs aims to identify the specific needs of the communities within which they are based.  She confirmed that going forward more activities for older people will be developed, in their local communities.

Councillor Adam also pointed out that leisure centres tend to be located in urban locations and he asked how the service planned to encourage provision in rural areas. Councillor Adam then referred to the Moving Together pilot and asked why Peterlee was selected for the pilot.

The Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism spoke of the work undertaken with partners to support activities in rural communities including the development of coastal and railway paths, work being undertaken with partners to provide activities in rural areas and the training of local community members to deliver and support local activities. With regard to the Peterlee pilot, she clarified that Peterlee was chosen for the pilot as the area met with Sport England’s criteria and the other considerations which were levels of deprivation and ill health, the current levels of activity and the size of the population. 

Councillor Lines was pleased to see the plans included improved working with partners and services within the Council and he gave the view that, in the past, some community related projects had been hindered by the Council, rather than enabled and he urged the Council to do more to assist community projects.  He highlighted that there is an urgency to embed this approach across the Council to support and enable local community projects.

Councillor Elmer highlighted his concern at the low levels of physical activity and he commented that many people prefer to participate in informal physical activity and he stressed the need to ensure the appropriate infrastructure is in place to improve air quality to encourage active transport. He spoke of the links with the strategic priorities of the Council and the need to transition away from prioritising private vehicles and to provide more active travel opportunities. Councillor Elmer agreed with Councillor Lines that the Council must do more to encourage partnership work with external organisations and to support local community projects.

The Head of Culture, Sport and Tourism agreed that the low levels of physical activity are concerning.  She recognised that services provided by the Council will only form part of the solution as barriers to participation in physical activity are complex and it was clear that there was more work to be done to improve physical activity messaging through the use of social media and also to support the transport infrastructure.

Councillor Andrews commented that one of the original concepts of the NHS had been that healthy children grow into healthy adults and it seemed that almost 80 years after the NHS was established, this had not been achieved.  She highlighted the significant issues to be addressed such as inequality, the rural nature of the county and the ageing population and she emphasised the importance of collaborative working with services including health, transport and education, for a system-wide approach.   

Resolved:

1.    That the report be received.

2.    That members provide comment in relation to the report and presentation focusing on the Strategic Leisure Framework.