Agenda item

In May 2015 Cabinet approved that leisure be moved to be incorporated as a part of public health and, following this approval, the decision was made for community campuses to be established; where health, wellbeing, library and leisure facilities could be encompassed under one roof for the community.

A presentation on Leisure and the new structure, as well as the on-going plans for the future of the service, will be received at the meeting.

John Goodall, Consultant in Public Health, was in attendance to present on Leisure Services and outlined that from January 2014 leisure had been incorporated as a wider part of public health and this move had been deemed beneficial; as leisure contributed directly to the health and wellbeing of the population.

Mr Goodall outlined that the overall health of the Wiltshire population was classed as ‘good’, especially in comparison to the national average and that deprivation in Wiltshire was lower than the national average too. He explained that the vision for leisure services was to help to improve the life expectancy of Wiltshire residents and to ensure that the population were well informed; in order to be able to make improved lifestyle choices.

Mr Goodall detailed that there were a range and diversity of clubs and activities, which accommodated for a wide range of ages and abilities within Wilshire Council’s leisure services. For example, there were groups and activities targeted at all ages; such as, walking football for older people or street dance for younger people. Indeed, he commented that young people targeted schemes often had an anti-bullying component added to them. Mr Goodall noted that there were approximately 3.5 million visits recorded per annum to Wiltshire Council leisure centres, yet that this figure was likely to be higher, as such a statistic was inevitably difficult to measure.

Attention was drawn to the Cabinet decision made in December 2015, which would ensure that ‘Places for People’ leisure centres would become in-house centres; it was highlighted that this would allow Wiltshire Council to have greater flexibility in delivering its current services.

Cllr Seed added that GPs had raised interest in becoming a part of the Health and Wellbeing centres and that nearly 4000 GP referrals were made to Wiltshire Council leisure centres, under the programme known as ‘Active Health’. Cllr Seed highlighted that such an example showed a clear and proper integration of services and this was in line with the Council’s aim. It was confirmed that the financing of the ‘Active Health’ referral programme was financed by central government and that, occasionally, participating individuals would have to pay a fee; however, it was stated that Public Health also provided a grant to help fund the ‘Active Health’ scheme.

There were a number of questions raised by committee members regarding the leisure provision for areas where it was unlikely there would be a Health and Wellbeing Centre. It was confirmed that the leisure provision was countywide and open to all Wiltshire residents and activities were, and would be, offered in existing leisure centres, as well as Health and Wellbeing Centres.

The Committee congratulated Leisure Services on the range and diversity of activities available to Wiltshire residents and welcomed Leisure Services’ move to public health; as this change could be seen as positive, due to the greater offer of activities and the increased engagement with the public that this service was offering. It was highlighted that Walking Football was over-subscribed for retirees in Calne and Leisure Services were complimented on the free swimming sessions that were available in Wiltshire. Cllr Seed responded that an investigation had showed that free swimming in the holidays was a good investment for the community and it was hoped that the Council would be able to maintain such an offer.

It was explained that due to the fiscal savings that Wiltshire Council had to achieve, the Leisure Services budget had been reduced. The general consensus was that, if Wiltshire demonstrated a healthier population, then spending on health would inevitably reduce and future savings could be seen. It was noted that for Area Boards there would be a separate grant for Health and Wellbeing Services, and it was pointed out that such a service did not necessarily purely encompass one being active as, for example, there were also health and wellbeing benefits to  reducing social isolation within the community.

Following questions from the Committee, it was explained that there were two Heads of Service; David Redfern who was responsible for in-house centres and Louise Carey, who was responsible for ‘Places for People’ centres, as well as the independent sites within Wiltshire.

The committee expressed interest in receiving an update on the implementation of the vision for the Leisure Service and further data, identifying the number of people undertaking leisure activities. It was explained that work was being done to compile this data set more closely.

Resolved:

That an update report from Leisure on implementing their vision (Helping people in Wiltshire to live longer, healthier lives, while addressing health inequalities), including statistics on the number of individuals participating in leisure activities within Wiltshire, would be received by the committee in a year’s time.