Decision details

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Public Health which provided details of a recent funding application made to Sport England designed to improve swimming facilities and programmes in Sefton and to seek approval to accept a grant, if awarded.

Decision Made: That

(1)       approval be given to the acceptance of the grant if awarded, subject to satisfactory grant conditions;

(2)       approval be given to the commencement ofa procurement exercise without commitment pending thegrant award;

(3)       the project be included in the 2017/18 capital programme to be considered by Council on 2 March 2017 subject to the grant being awarded; and

(4)       it be noted that the proposal was a Key Decision but had not been included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions. Consequently, the Leader of the Council and the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Adult Social Care and Health) had been consulted under Rule 27 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan becauseof timescales associated with the initial bid submission, expected project delivery and procurement process.

Reasons for Decision:

In March 2016 the Director of Health and Social Care and the Cabinet Member - Health and Wellbeing approved Sefton’s involvement in a national swimming pilot, which included the submission of a funding bid to Sport England.

The total requested from Sport England was £531,582.  Confirmation was expected by the end of February 2017. If agreed the funding would include capital resources to enable the renovation of two swimming pool changing facilities which would be fully DDA compliant and as such permission to proceed was required urgently to comply with the funding timescales. It was not possible to defer this decision to the Cabinet meeting in March, hence the request for approval in advance of the award being made.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

The changing facilities at Dunes Splash World and Bootle Leisure Centre are outdated, in poor condition and in need of refurbishment. If Members elect not to accept the grant, alternative funding options would need to be identified.