Dorset Council is proposing to withdraw its management from the Queen Elizabeth Leisure Centre (QELC), Wimborne in 2024, but has pledged to work with its owners Queen Elizabeth School (QES) to find a sustainable way of keeping their facilities available to those who need them.
This will involve helping the school find alternative funding opportunities, making the current facilities more widely available and providing support and guidance for any users who may need to make alternative arrangements for their activities if necessary.
The Council is also proposing that one-off funding (up to £150,000) is made available as a contribution towards the replacement of the all-weather pitch at the site.
Dorset Council provides management for QELC, but it does not own the facility. This has raised the question as to whether this provides value for money, as the Council manage and subsidise its community use at the cost of over half a million pounds each year. This means the funding of QELC is far higher than any of the eight leisure facilities the Council owns, which share what’s left of the £1.7m per year leisure centres budget.
Dorset Council launched a consultation on future management arrangements at QELC last year to fully understand the future impact on users, clubs, and staff should they decide to no longer manage QELC, and the school is unable to continue running the facility in its current form.
Overall, 1,799 responses were received. As expected, there was overwhelming support to keep the current arrangements which would result in no impact to residents, QES and those that use QELC.
83% of respondents said they currently travel to QELC by car, which is of note given there is a good level of alternative leisure provision in the local area. 51.1% indicated that they use or have used other local sports facilities, of which there are eight other public leisure centres within 20 minutes’ drive.
85.4% of disabled users who visit the centre use the pool. QES have raised concerns around being able to maintain the swimming pool at QELC, but it’s been noted that Wimborne Multi Academy Trust already operate a pool at St Michaels Middle School in Colehill without any additional funding, and so there may be an opportunity for QES to do the same.
Other respondents commented that the potential closure is inconsistent with the Council’s commitment to health and wellbeing. However, the Council operates three other leisure facilities in the East Dorset area, as well as two country parks, so it is felt that there is clear evidence that Dorset Council is supporting the community to be physically active. Many other areas of Dorset are less fortunate and don’t have access to the same level of leisure facilities.
The report detailing the proposed next steps for the QELC will go to Dorset Council’s Place and Resources Overview Committee on Thursday 10 February for discussion. The recommendations will then be considered and decided upon at Cabinet on Tuesday 1 March. If agreed, Dorset Council will withdraw from the dual use management agreement at QELC on 31 March 2024.
Cllr Laura Miller, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services, said:
“The consultation has shown the potential impact of Dorset Council withdrawing their management from Queen Elizabeth Leisure Centre. If the recommendations are agreed, we have an interim period to work with the school and try to find different ways to provide as many services as possible for community and school use.
I respect the strength of feeling from the local community, but Dorset Council simply cannot justify spending so much public money managing a centre that we do not own, in an area that has so much comparable leisure provision close by.
Making these recommendations has been difficult, but the school has a considerable amount of time to explore options for QELC’s future and I remain hopeful we can help them find a solution to their funding concerns.
Ultimately, the future of QELC rests with the school but we will do all we can to support them in the meantime, including helping get the all-weather pitch updated and looking at ways of making the facilities more accessible to the general public.”
This suggests that because the current funding arrangement is disproportionate in favour of QE, the council will withdraw ALL of its funding for the management of the centre rather than continue to fund it in a more equitable way across all 8 leisure centres. The arguments made that people can drive further to use facilities in nearby towns or will pay more to use private gyms and pools contradict the council’s stated intentions to reduce unnecessary car journeys and tackle health inequalities. The increase in housing, people and vehicles in Wimborne should mean we need more local health and leisure amenities closer to where people live, not fewer and further way.
It seems this is not sufficient information to fully grasp the options available. Why can’t the council continue to fund on an equitable basis with the other centres they contribute to? Thus leaving qelc to seek alternative management options either in house or via third party providers?
It does seem that the public consultation was a total waste of time. The views expressed by Dorset council haven,t changed at all. I suggest that councillors visit the site on a Wednesday or Thursday evening to see just how well the facilities are used.
Peter – The proposals are not based on under-usage of QELC, but on the amount of money that is being spent on a facility we do not own, in an area with plenty of sports and leisure provision within a short drive away. The consultation results will help inform the decisions made by councillors, as well as how the school might be able to find new ways of providing services in the future if we decide to withdraw management support.
Another pointless consultation
No consultation is “pointless”, but there is some misunderstanding about why they are carried out. Consultations are run to gather data needed in order for councillors to make an informed decision. They are not referendums; Public support or opposition to a proposal is certainly important when making a decision, but that must be considered alongside all other factors. In the case of QELC, the consultation has provided vital information in terms of how the facilities are used, how people travel there, what will happen if the school closes the facility etc. All of this information will be contained within the report that councillors will consider next week and in Cabinet next month – James
It is clear that the consultation has actually been used to help support the closure by clever choice of questions and spinning its results
Pete – We never expected the consultation results to demonstrate support for our proposal to withdraw management from QELC (as it might lead to the facility’s closure by the school), and no amount of “clever worded questions” or “spin” is going to hide 83% of respondents opposing the plans. But the responses have provided vital information to consider when councillors make their decision, which was the main purpose of the consultation.
Is the full report available? It does seem that selected reasons have been used for funding withdrawal rather than looking at the Centres’s contribution to the life of the community. I suggest that councillors visit the Centre on a Wednesday or Thursday evening to see just how well the centre is used.
The full report will be published today or tomorrow at https://moderngov.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=651&MId=5184
As a long standing user of QE Leisure Centre, I have written on previous occasions asking if the managers of the service could keep users informed of developments and news concerning the centre.
To date this has not happened.
It is to be regretted that your user population had to read the
news of outcome of the Consultation in the local paper, The Echo.
A fundamental principal of quality management is timely clear communication, which informs and engages, in this case, with your staff and user community.
Once again this is sadly not the case with Dorset Council and the managers of this service.
DC can find enough money to pay for a very high – 8ft? welded wire fence entirely around the green area on right as you drive in the access road. There is also a section of same fencing being erected today 4th Feb right outside the cafe as one approaches QELC doors. What is the purpose of these fences especially the latter?
As part of QES’s last Ofsted inspection, they were told to improve security both in and out of the school campus. The fence has been funded entirely by the school for this reason – James