Agenda and minutes

The Joint Executive Advisory Board (JEAB)

RESOLVED

that Councillor Angela Goodwin be elected as Chairman for this meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Christopher Barrass, Andrew Gomm and Jo Randall.  Councillor Deborah Seabrook was present as a substitute for Councillor Christopher Barrass.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda. Any councillor with a DPI must not participate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests.

To receive and comment on the presentation.

The Joint Executive Advisory Board considered a High-Level Summary of the Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) in respect of the future of the Spectrum Leisure Centre.

The Lead Councillor for Environment and Regulatory Services introduced the Summary and advised that the Spectrum was the largest leisure complex of its type in the country offering a unique mix of facilities.  Although the Spectrum building was ageing, it continued to attract 1.7 million visitors each year from a wide area stretching beyond the Borough boundaries, despite the impact of COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis.  The Spectrum’s busiest period was the February half term school holiday when 60,000 visits were made during the course of a week.  The Spectrum’s swimming pools attracted approximately 35% of visitors whilst the ice rink drew 20% of attendees.  The complex also hosted over 60 major events each year, including Elite League Ice Hockey. 

Although, in 2019, the Executive had agreed to progress the option of providing a replacement low carbon leisure facility, implementation of that decision had been deferred for two years owing to the pandemic.  As two years had since elapsed and visitor numbers had returned to the pre-pandemic level, it was now considered timely to plan the strategic direction for the Spectrum’s future, particularly as the Centre was now 30 years into its approximate 40 year life span.

Operating the Spectrum consumed a significant amount of energy and, given the current high energy costs and the Council’s target to become carbon neutral by 2030, this factor was creating significant financial and carbon reduction challenges.  Excluding its housing stock, the Spectrum comprised 50% of the Council’s carbon footprint.

In this connection, the Lead Councillor for Climate Change and Organisational Development emphasised the significance of the challenges presented by the Spectrum in terms of energy consumption and carbon emissions.  The Lead Councillor was of the view that a refurbishment or replacement of the Spectrum would be necessary to meet the Council’s zero carbon target. However, refurbishment presented challenges owing to the design of the building, which was highly energy inefficient, particularly in terms of heating.  Substituting the current gas fired central heating with a more costly electrical system, such as heat pumps, would be necessary to decarbonise the building.  Although building replacement would be a costly exercise, there was a possibility of obtaining some funding towards a new facility from the Government, Sport England or other organisations which supported the improvement of sport and leisure facilities.

The Summary, which was presented by the Executive Head of Commercial Services and the Interim Project Manager, featured:

·             executive summary of the SOBC;

·             project introduction and background;

·             compelling strategic case for change;

·             economic case with options evaluated in the mandate (January 2021) and shortlisted options evaluated in the SOBC (November 2022);

·             the financial case with draft costs;

·             the management case regarding the delivery method; and

·             the next steps to the approval gates.

The economic case with options evaluated in the mandate had favoured Option 4 – ‘Do More’,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.