Tuesday 02 July 2013
The management of Beau Sejour and Footes Lane will not now be outsourced to the private sector - but future opportunities to develop a greater commercial focus will be taken by the Culture and Leisure Department.
The Culture and Leisure Department had invited operators of UK sporting and leisure facilities to put forward proposals to take over day to day running of Beau Sejour and Footes Lane. This was to establish whether outsourcing the management of these local facilities could provide savings and reduce the current subsidies from the States.
Having assessed the three detailed tender submissions, the project team concluded outsourcing alone would not produce significant benefits. However there may be opportunities to reduce the current subsidies by adopting a more commercial approach under the existing management structure.
Culture & Leisure Minister Deputy Mike O'Hara said this option was being explored:
"Beau Sejour and Footes Lane are both very highly valued by the community. They provide a key focus for local sporting, leisure and recreation activities and for island life in general. We therefore have to ensure we continue to provide the appropriate services, but we also have to act in an increasingly commercial way whilst ensuring access to the whole community."
"Having been through a full tendering exercise, it has been decided not to outsource these facilities. However the Culture and Leisure Department and the Policy Council are agreed that there are opportunities to make further savings by putting the management of Beau Sejour and Footes Lane on a more commercial footing. This can reduce the current level of subsidy, while retaining an appropriate degree of States control.
"My Board and its officers will now be exploring these opportunities."
Public Services Chief Officer Adrian Lewis acted as the independent senior responsible officer for the project. He said although it had been decided not to proceed with outsourcing, the tendering exercise had been worthwhile:
"It was successful in that it identified what benefits outsourcing could offer, and the potential savings. Having assessed all the bids, it was clear that to maintain a similar level of service, simply handing over the management of these facilities to a third party would not realise significant benefits. The conclusion from the tendering exercise is this type of operating model is not appropriate locally.
"There are also legal and financial impacts in terms of current staff and how they would transfer under an outsourcing contract. Those considerations mean it would not be sensible to proceed unless there were clear material benefits from such an arrangement."
-ENDS-
