Harrogate council criticised for lack of drink facilities at Hydro

Harrogate Borough Council has been criticised for a lack of drinks facilities at the town’s Hydro.

Bob Kennedy, who took his children to a swimming session at the leisure centre this past weekend, said there was nowhere to get a drink at the site for parents.

The Hydro, along with other facilities in the district, is now run by council-controlled company Brimhams Active.

Mr Kennedy said the cafe, which was open before the pandemic, was closed and there were no vending machines.

He added that there was only tap water available and a member of staff told him he had to bring a water bottle to use it.

Mr Kennedy said:

“There were no cafe, no vending machines, no water machine, nothing.

“As a spectator sitting there in the stifling heat for two hours, I have left completely dehydrated with a headache.”

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In response, Harrogate Borough Council said the company which ran the cafe at the Hydro had ended its contract due to covid.

A spokesperson for the council said:

“The café at the Hydro in Harrogate was leased to a catering provider that sadly, due to covid-19 and the unavoidable closure of the leisure centre throughout the pandemic, ended their contract.

“Part of this contract was also to supply vending machine drinks and snacks.

“We are looking at identifying a new supplier and as part of the multi-million pound refurbishment project will be exploring the future provision of a new and improved café at the Hydro.

“In the meantime, a water fountain is available for customers to refill their own drinks bottles”

Harrogate council awards £275,000 contract to KPMG

A £275,000 contract to come up with a business case for the refurbishment of Harrogate Convention Centre has been handed to consultants KPMG.

Harrogate Borough Council awarded the contract to the London consultants ahead of making a final decision on whether to spend £47 million redeveloping the convention centre.

As part of the deal, KPMG will also assess the economic impact of covid on the events industry.

Trevor Watson, the council’s director of economy, environment and housing, approved the contract following a competitive tender process in which the council only received a single bid for the work.

A council spokesperson said previously the award of the contract would mark “a significant step forward in our major investment”. They added:

“Harrogate Convention Centre makes such a significant contribution to the district’s economy by bringing visitors and investment.

“And this investment will deliver a major component of the Harrogate town centre masterplan and will be key to the district’s covid-19 economic recovery plan.”

It comes as a major shake-up of local government in North Yorkshire looms, which will see the Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council scrapped and replaced with a new super council.

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Control of the convention centre will be handed over to the new super council, which the government aims to have in place by 2023.

However, Harrogate Borough Council officials have said they remain “committed” to completing projects and that the convention centre redevelopment and plans to scrap the two-tier council system were “two entirely separate things”.

£288,000 contract for Brimham’s Active

Meanwhile, a separate contract to overhaul the booking management system in Harrogate district leisure centres has been awarded to an Oxfordshire company.

The £288,000 contract has been handed to Gladstone MRM Ltd, which has offices in Wallingford.

The council has commissioned Gladstone to upgrade its current booking system, which it said is 20 years out of date.

According to the government’s procurement portal, the contract will run until July 2025.

Brimham’s Active, which was set up by the council in August, now runs leisure facilities such as Harrogate Hydro, Starbeck Baths, Knaresborough Pool and Ripon Leisure Centre.

Union concerns over staffing shortages at Harrogate district leisure centres

A trade union has raised concerns over staffing shortages at Harrogate district leisure centres which have recently been taken over by a new council-controlled company.

Brimhams Active was launched by Harrogate Borough Council this month and around 160 staff were transferred across to the new company to remain in their roles.

But with around 27 vacancies as a result of staffing shortages across the leisure industry, David Houlgate, branch secretary at Unison Harrogate, has raised concerns over the impact on services, as well wider issues over staff pay and retention.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said:

“The main concern is that it could impact on service delivery just as the new venture is starting up, resulting in limits on when facilities will be open.

“We have for some time raised concerns about recruitment and retention, right across the council, due to year on year real-terms pay cuts as a result of pay freezes and below inflation pay rises and also detrimental changes to terms and conditions.

“This year it is happening again, with staff being offered a below inflation pay rise of 1.75%.

“But at Brimhams, staff are also paid at a less favourable rate for overtime, than those in the council, a legacy of when the service was provided directly by the council.”

Leisure centres including Starbeck Baths and Knaresborough Swimming Pool were closed for more than a year earlier during the covid pandemic and since reopening some services have yet to make a full return due to the staffing issues.

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This was after many leisure staff were temporarily redeployed into different areas such as bin collections and as the council introduced a recruitment freeze in order to keep costs down during the pandemic.

Mr Houlgate added:

“The year-long recruitment freeze hasn’t helped.

“We were never consulted on it and we did make representation to the council to relax it sooner but this was not acted upon quickly enough in our opinion and we believe this has contributed to the current situation.

“We’ve also found that some staff who have been re-deployed during the covid-19 pandemic have preferred their new temporary roles and where the opportunity has arisen have chosen to remain in them.

“The council does not always engage with or involve the unions as often as we think it should.”

In response, a council spokesperson said it was “working hard” to fill the vacancies and that the staffing shortages were not specific to Harrogate but a nationwide problem.

The spokesperson said: 

“We have proactively explained to our residents that unfortunately, we may need to scale back some of our non-essential services so that we can protect both our staff and our customers.

“We also have a number of vacancies across our local authority controlled company Brimhams Active that we’re working hard to fill. This is progressing well and a number of new starters will be joining us this month.

“The recruitment issue is being faced right across the country, in both the public and private sector. It is therefore disappointing that the union has decided to paint this issue and the launch of Brimhams Active with the same brush.”

The spokesperson added:

“Brimhams Active will allow us to transform a conventional leisure service into a leading community focused health and wellbeing service.

“There are still strong careers in the leisure industry and we are optimistic that with competitive salaries and a wealth of other benefits we will attract people to come and work for us.”

Council’s new leisure company to focus on health and wellbeing

Harrogate Borough Council said the aim of its new leisure company will be to create more active, longer, and independent lives.

It has pledged that Brimhams Active, the new authority controlled company, will be more focussed on overall health and wellbeing.

Some 200 Harrogate Borough Council employees transferred over to Brimhams Active yesterday.  It’ll run 11 leisure venues, including The Hydro in Harrogate, Knaresborough Pool, Ripon Leisure Centre and Nidderdale Pool and is projected to save the council £400,000 a year.

Residents can use the new website to find out more about the services provided by Brimham’s Active as well booking sessions at leisure centres and facilities across the Harrogate district.

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Leisure facilities in the district are undergoing something of a transformation with not all of it going according to plan.  There’s to be a £26 million investment in the Harrogate Hydro and a new leisure centre at Knaresborough, which is expected to be financed by borrowing from the government.  Ripon’s new £10.2 million pool and leisure centre is due to open in November. However the project has recently been the subject of serious safety concerns after a report into a hole in the ground which appeared on the site.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, said:

“The scale of the challenge set for us is more than matched by the scale of the opportunities we have in our grasp. Launching Brimhams Active with a new strategy and investment programme will allow us to transform a conventional leisure service into a leading community focussed health and wellbeing service.

“There is clear evidence that people need to be more active to combat rising obesity levels and prevent ill health due to poor lifestyle choice.

“Our vision and strategy has some clear and achievable objectives. We will help Harrogate district residents of all ages, from all walks of life, live a healthy lifestyle and stay active for longer. We know we can’t do this alone and nor should we. We will work with partner organisations and stakeholders to develop partnerships and facilities to provide a holistic approach to health and wellbeing.”

 

200 Harrogate council leisure staff set to transfer to new company

Union bosses have said they have received assurances there are “no plans” to change conditions for council staff after this week’s overhaul of leisure services in the Harrogate district.

Some 200 Harrogate Borough Council employees transferred to a new local authority controlled company called Brimham’s Active at the start of August.

Brimham’s Active will run the council’s 11 leisure venues, including The Hydro in Harrogate, Knaresborough Pool, Ripon Leisure Centre and Nidderdale Pool.

The move has raised employment concerns among those staff affected but Unison said all workers will maintain their current terms and conditions.

David Houlgate, secretary of Unison Harrogate local government branch, said the union will continue to monitor the situation after the company becomes active.

He said:

“We have been successful with our campaign and have received assurances that there are no plans to change existing terms and conditions following the transfer.  

“We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure this position does not change.”

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said all leisure staff would transfer to Brimham’s Active under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, better known as TUPE, on August 1.

New leisure company

The council voted last year to create a new local authority controlled company to take over the running of its leisure facilities.

At the time, council officials said the move would save £400,000 a year and that the authority would have a majority of representatives on the new company’s board.

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The company has since been incorporated and appointed seven directors. They include local councillors, council officers and Mark Tweedie, who has been appointed managing director of Brimham’s Active.

According to Companies House, Zoe Appleton-Metcalfe, Wallace Sampson, Samuel Gibbs, Stan Lumley, Trevor Watson and Pat Marsh have been appointed directors.

The council has also announced a £26 million investment in the Harrogate Hydro and a new leisure centre at Knaresborough, which was expected to be financed by borrowing from the government.

In June last year, Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for tourism and sport, said the new company and investment plan “came hand in hand” and would help the authority save money.

Senior staff could get pay rises totalling around £133,000

Some of the most senior staff at Harrogate Borough Council could be in line for pay rises totalling around £133,000 between them.

The authority has proposed a new senior management pay structure with increases to the upper salary limits for 17 top earners including the chief executive Wallace Sampson, two directors and several heads of service and managers.

Mr Sampson is the highest paid member of staff and could see his upper limit increased to £130,000 under the proposals, which were supported by the council’s human resources committee on Wednesday and will require a final approval from full council next month.

It follows a review by the Local Government Association (LGA) and Yorkshire and Humber Employers Association, which concluded the recruitment and retention of senior staff was challenging and that pay was a factor.

The review looked at council salary levels elsewhere in the region, as well as Harrogate’s cost of living, and proposed several pay rises to be introduced from 1 July.

These will not apply to mainstream staff who had their pay structure reviewed two years ago and are currently in negotiations for a further rise.

Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, Kay Atherton, head of organisational development and improvement at the council, explained:

“In 2019, as part of the National Joint Council pay agreement, a new pay structure was agreed for mainstream staff where some staff did see an uplift in pay.

“That pay structure was to address the issues of low pay – which it did.

“At this point in time, because we have only reviewed the pay structure for mainstream staff recently, we don’t feel we need to do that again.”

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Under the proposals for senior staff, the vacant position of director of community would be scrapped after Paul Campbell suddenly stepped down last spring and was paid £55,065 in compensation for loss of office after three and half years in the role

His responsibilities – which included emergency planning, housing, parks, and health and safety – have since been shared between the other two directors and this arrangement is likely to continue.

Rachel Bowles is director of corporate affairs, while Trevor Watson is director of economy and culture, and he could see his title renamed as director of economy, environment and housing under the proposed changes.

The pair would also see their upper salary limits increased from £92,194 to £100,000, although this is only an upper limit and how much they and all other senior staff actually earn is based on a grading system.

Meanwhile, Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, would remain on the same £104,502 salary, while the managing director of the council’s new leisure company Brimhams Active, Mark Tweedie, could earn up to £76,350.

For the 12 heads of service, the upper limit would be boosted from £63,584 to £75,000.

Meanwhile, some managers, including those in charge of communications and engagement, elections, and democratic services will see no increase in their upper pay limit.

All council workers last received an across-the-board 2.75% pay rise in August, but union officials have issued a warning over the “perception” by lower-paid workers and the public of reviewing senior staff pay now.

In response to the LGA review, Unison Harrogate said in a statement:

“Whilst we do not dispute the legitimacy of the senior management proposal, perception is something that does need to be factored in.

“Staff, who have recently been offered a derisory 1.5% pay rise, will understandably question why a senior management review is happening much quicker than one for the majority of staff, which seems way off in the future.

“It is our expectation that the council gets on with the pay and grading review for mainstream staff now, prioritises it and delivers on it in a much quicker time frame than is being proposed.”

Council to upgrade 20-year-old booking system in leisure centre overhaul

Harrogate Borough Council is set to upgrade its 20-year-old booking system as part of an overhaul of leisure facilities in the district.

The authority is set to award a contract for its leisure management system (LMS), which is used for booking lessons, memberships and operating the tills at facilities.

It would be used by the the council’s new company, Brimhams Active, which was set up as part of an overhaul of leisure in the district.

Brimhams Active is set to take over the running of Harrogate Hydro, Knaresborough Leisure Centre and other facilities in August.

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According to a report due before Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, on Thursday, the current system used by the council is outdated and ageing.

It said:

“The council’s current LMS has been in use for almost 20 years. 

“Its age means that it lacks functionality which would be regarded as “standard” for operators in today’s market, leaving HBC at a competitive disadvantage.”

The council is recommended to hand the contract to an unnamed company after a competitive tender process.

The value of the contract was not revealed in the report.

If approved, the contract would last for two years with an option to extend for two further periods of 12 months.

The borough council overhauled the district’s leisure facilities last year and decided to hand them over to an arms-length company owned by the authority.

The council also announced a £26 million investment in the Harrogate Hydro and the new leisure centre at Knaresborough, which was expected to be borrowed from the government.

At the time, Cllr Lumley said the two “came hand in hand” and would help the authority save money.

The company has since been incorporated and appointed seven directors, which includes local councillors, council officers and Mark Tweedie, who has been appointed managing director of Brimhams Active.

According to Companies House, Zoe Appleton-Metcalfe, Wallace Sampson, Samuel Gibbs, Stan Lumley, Trevor Watson and Pat Marsh have been appointed directors.

Pool and gym opens at Harrogate Hydro with safety measures

The Hydro in Harrogate will reopen tomorrow with new safety measures in place for the pool and gym.

All sessions will need to be pre-booked to help the centre control numbers and allow for cleaning.

The safety measures mean that people will only be able to swim for up to 45 minutes and use the gym for up to an hour. Anyone who turns up early will need to queue outside or wait in their cars.

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Harrogate Borough Council has not yet given a date for the reopening of its other leisure facilities.

This comes after the council gave its backing to an overhaul of its leisure services. It will mean that the council will hand over control to its new company.

Heading to the pool?

Those heading to the pool will be allocated their own changing cubicle and locker to ensure social distancing.

However, the current guidelines mean that the showers will need to remain off-limits.

The council has limited the number of people who can swim to a maximum of five per lane. Family sessions will be in the activity pool.

At the end of the session, the staff will ask people to leave as soon as possible.

Heading to the gym?

There are no lockers or changing cubicles available for those visiting Brimhams Fitness Centre so people will need to turn up ready for their sessions.

Staff have widened the space between equipment and limited the number of members in each zone, so there may be a wait.

The council has also provided cleaning equipment for gym users to apply before and after their workouts.

Harrogate District leisure services cost taxpayers £3.5 million a year

Swimming pools, leisure and community centres in the Harrogate District are operating at a loss of more than £3.5 million a year.

According to a Freedom of Information request by The Stray Ferret, services run by Harrogate Borough Council are expected to cost the taxpayer £3,585,980 in 2019/20 and some facilities have increased in cost year on year.

Most facilities which are set to be handed over to a new council-owned company as part of proposals by the borough council are expected to make a loss.

The figures show that the Harrogate Hydro is the most expensive facility and is expected to cost £1,014,960 for the last year.

The total expenditure for the Hydro is estimated to be £2,168,140 in 2019/20 with an income of £1,153,180. The majority of the cost comes from staffing and additional expenses which accounts for £817,660 and £1.25 million of the bill.

Among the facilities and their cost were:

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Meanwhile, attendances at both facilities fell over the course of 12 months. The Hydro saw its attendances drop from 341,886 in 2018/19 to 322,889 last year.

The expenditure for the Harrogate Hydro as set out by Harrogate Borough Council.

It comes as the authority’s cabinet will vote on handing over services to an arms-length company called Brimham’s Active on Wednesday in order to save money.

If given the go-ahead, it would mean facilities such as Harrogate Hydro, the Turkish Baths and Ripon Leisure Centre would be run by the new company.

But the plan has been met with opposition by the community in Starbeck and was criticised by unions last week over its consultation response.

How will Brimham’s Active save money?

The total cost of running leisure services will beg the question as to whether or not the new company can make a dent in its overall loss every year.

According to a council report due before senior councillors, the company would save money through VAT benefits, business rates relief and investment in new and existing pools.

The council estimates that the company, which has a target set up date of August 2021, will save the authority around £284,000 a year which would potentially rise to £585,000 after investment in facilities.

The authority said around £222,000 a year would be saved in rate relief and £76,000 in VAT benefits as a result of handing services over to the company.

Meanwhile, the new company would have project start up costs of £300,000 which would be funded from the council’s investment reserves.