Meeting documents

The Cabinet Member for Resources and Officers will attend the meeting to explain the reasons behind the recommendation to close the Bucks Sports and Social Club.

There will be 15 minutes to present to the Committee followed by an opportunity for Members to ask questions.

Contributors:

Mr John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources

Mr Lloyd Jeffries, Director of Operations, BCC

Dr Joe Nethercoat, Head of Strategic Assets, BCC

Miss Gill Smith, Facilities Manager, BCC

Supporting Papers:

·         Bucks Sports and Social Club report

The Chairman welcomed Mr John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources, Mrs Gill Quinton, Executive Director for Resources, Mr Lloyd Jeffries, Operations Director and Mr Oster Milambo, Deputy Head of Strategic Assets to the meeting.  The Cabinet Member and the officers were reminded of the time in which they had to respond, explaining the reasons behind the decision to close the Bucks Sports and Social Club, followed by questions from the Committee.

During the presentation and in response to Members’ questions, the following main points were noted:

·         The Cabinet Member thanked everyone who had submitted representations, as he was grateful to have the views of the public. There were over 60 representations and a petition with over 700 signatures.

·         The decision to close the Club had been a difficult one but the alternatives had been fully considered. Essentially the decision was a financial one – the Club was losing money and required significant capital investment to rectify a number of issues e.g. asbestos in the changing rooms.  The Council had no money to invest in the Club, the provision of which was not a statutory duty of the Council.

·         At the end of 2014, the Club was running at a loss of £12,000. The income of the Club was being subsidised at that time by NHS staff parking there during the week, but this was no longer the case. The projected overspend for 2017-18 was £65,000. The Club currently had 56 paying members, all BCC staff, previously in August 2016 the membership stood at 163.

·         When a site has been listed as an Asset of Community Value it is subject to certain regulations.  If the owner decides to dispose of the asset either through freehold sale or granting a qualifying lease of 25 years or more, this would trigger a period of consultation.  In this instance, BCC had not decided to dispose of the site.

·         Mr Chilver confirmed that he had consulted with Mr Roberts ahead of the Cabinet Member Decision being taken, but the report did not cover this in any detail.

·         Mrs Quinton acknowledged that there had been weaknesses regarding consultation but the facts remained that the Club was in poor repair, making a financial loss and had a 70% vacancy rate during the day. Although there had been discussions over a lengthy period regarding a transfer of the management of the Club, an agreement had not been reached.

·         New memberships had not been offered since BCC took over management of the Club as the future of the Club was uncertain.

·         Although there had been a series of meetings with County Councillors and the proposed Club Committee, BCC had never received a full business case or confirmation of a legal entity which could take over the lease and management responsibility for the Club.

·         In response to a question from a Member about a figure for VAT which appeared in the Profit and Loss sheet, officers were unable to explain why VAT had been included.

·         Carter Jonas had considered a number of options for the Bucks Sports and Social Club site as part of a wider Property Review. There were five options which included developing part of the site and retaining the Club or redeveloping part of the site and retaining the playing fields.  To date no decision had been made about disposal or future use of the site.

·         Club bookings were being made through BCC Facilities Management team.

The Chairman thanked all contributors for attending the meeting.