Council faces questions over decision take leisure contract away from Active Northumberland

The charity will be replaced at the start of April by Places for People, which is listed on Companies House as being head-quartered in London.

Active Northumberland has delivered leisure services in the county for the past nine years, but will now be wound up.

Last week, it was revealed that Morpeth and Ponteland’s leisure centres have been rated as the best in the country by Sports England under the stewardship of Active.

This has led to questions from opposition councillors over the decision to hand over the reins.

The leader of Northumberland Labour, Cllr Scott Dickinson said: “I have always been comfortable with a charity, Northumberland based provider working those assets for the council and communities. I will be interested to see, if and when information is shared about protections and assurances for all the public assets and finances in this business.

“I am obviously disappointed the council did not look at in-house provision or that the new provider is based outside the North East. In the interests of the position the council has put us in we will of course try and form a positive working relationship moving forward.”

Cllr Liz Dunn Shadow Cabinet member for Arts, Culture and Leisure added: “I wish the new providers well and I hope we continue to see lots of the lovely Active staff transferred and working hard with us to deliver.

“It will be interesting to see how relationships are formed and how a new operator, now the council has chosen this route, will work. I am keen to understand more about the protection of council assets and Active finances when its wound up, if any liabilities fall to the council.”

Responding to Labour’s concerns, a council spokesman explained: “Under procurement law the council has to conduct a process to ensure the authority, and residents, are receiving good value for money and the best services possible.  In line with national guidance we used this opportunity to review and adapt our leisure services offer to incorporate a greater focus on active wellbeing across our communities

“For the last nine years Active Northumberland have operated as the leisure provider and we thank them for their services to date. The staff who work across our leisure centres do a fabulous job in supporting customers and will continue to do so as we make this transition.  All permanent staff will be transferred over to the new operator on the same terms and conditions – as required by employment law.

“The robust procurement process evaluated bids and identified the organisation most likely to achieve our ambition to provide a high quality, high value leisure and wellbeing service that meets the needs of residents, and works towards closing inequalities gaps. We believe Places for People Leisure Limited were the best fit for this brief.

“The new service aims to ensure both affordability and accessibility for all. While the council has not been responsible for setting tariffs in the past or will be going forward, it will have oversight of pricing structures and there will be a robust concessions approach to ensure equitable access for residents.”