Wednesday 20 July 2011

Westminster Lodge plans to be called-in by Scrutiny

A news update from St Albans Council

On Tuesday 26 July, the Council’s Scrutiny Committee* (O&S), called-in* the Cabinet decision on the Westminster Lodge leisure centre which was agreed on 7 June.

Following Cabinet on 7 June** the Chair of Scrutiny, Councillor Robert Donald called-in this Cabinet decision for the following reasons:-
  • No cross party or external public consultation has been conducted or independent professional verification of Capita Symonds consultants’ report carried out.
  • The decision does not openly state Cabinet’s agreement to change the contract to provide a 10 lane swimming pool when it is clearly one of the mitigating actions that Cabinet members regarded as necessary to continue with the existing contract.
  • Section 4.8 of the report refers to an alleged “….current shortfall in public water space in the district….” without evidencing this precisely or the options for resolving this if actually accurate, which would meet Sport England’s advisory standards.
  • An explanation has not been given for what options were considered in arriving at a decision and the reason for that decision. There is no evidence of why the contract should be changed or the options considered to provide ten lanes instead of eight, or whether other numbers of lanes were considered.
Councillor Robert Donald, Chair of Overview & Scrutiny (Public Services) Committee commented: “In my view, the need to alter the size of the main 25 metre swimming pool in the new Westminster Lodge redevelopment has never been conclusively proven or substantiated. I called this in, as Chair Of Overview and Scrutiny, because in my view Cabinet changed the contract to increase the pool to ten lanes without proper prior due diligence being given to the revenue impact of these changes on the future maintenance costs and loss of income from the proposed facilities that will not now be provided, potentially risking tax payers money. Furthermore, I consider replacing the existing irregular sized pool with another one does not indicate financial efficiency. I am also concerned about the loss of energy saving reductions that would have resulted from the environmentally sustainable measure of using solar panels on the roof, and I would expect the committee to be asking questions about these issues. In my opinion, this change was rushed.  Closer scrutiny of this change to a multi-million pound Council contract is not only therefore desirable but essential. This is a valuable development contract and the committee members will need to satisfy themselves that the revised scheme will deliver value for money to the District’s residents.  Otherwise, in my view, residents could be paying more for decades to come for a flagship leisure centre that was designed not to cost them any more than now and to provide an income for the Council through the widest possible range of sports and recreational facilities.”

Notes:

*Overview and Scrutiny (Public Services) Committee
See the Council’s website for more information about Overview and Scrutiny, how topics are chosen, what powers the committee has and details of meetings:-
Details of the next meeting can be found at:
A call-in
A call-in is where members of the appropriate Overview & Scrutiny Committee have evidence which suggests that the Cabinet did not take the decision in accordance with the principles set out in Article 13.02 of the Council’s Constitution on Decision Making.  See Article 13 on the Council’s website:  http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/02%20Articles%20of%20the%20Constitution%20-%20May%202011_tcm15-16832.pdf.

The appropriate O&S Committee considers the decision and if it is still concerned about it, then it may refer it back to the decision making person or body for reconsideration, setting out the nature of its concerns or may refer the matter to full Council.  

The O&S Committee cannot substitute its own decision for the decision made by Cabinet.

**Cabinet decision 7 June re Westminster Lodge:
“..That Cabinet confirms its acceptance of the independent due diligence review by Capita Symonds, agrees that its membership assumptions now form the basis of the business plan for Westminster Lodge, notes the estimated costs to cease the entire project and agrees to proceed with the project provided the mitigating action set out in the reports is taken forward….” More

Related press release:-New Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre to get two extra swimming lanes 15 June 2011. Read it here.

Webcast of this meeting.
The Overview and Scrutiny (Public Services) Committee meeting on Tuesday 26 July will be webcast live, and can be accessed via the Council’s website: http://www.stalbans.ukcouncil.net/site/ by selecting “Recent Webcasts Overview and Scrutiny (Public Services) Committee, District Council Offices, St Peter's Street, St Albans AL1 3JE Thur, 26 July 2011 @ 19:00.”

First Capital Connect questioned by Scrutiny Committee

News update from St Albans City and District Council


First Capital Connect (FCC) and Network Rail (NR) attended St Albans City and District Council’s Scrutiny Committee* meeting at 7pm on 13 July to respond to questions sent in by members of the public to the Committee over the last month. These were put to the rail operator’s Managing Director Neal Lawson (FCC), Integration and Partnership Manager Larry Heyman (FCC) and Martin Frobisher, the Route Director for East Midlands (NR).


The majority of the questions* were on the quality of communication with passengers when delays occur, the nature and transparency of the compensation policy and why 1st class carriages are not declassified to reduce overcrowding. Other topics included what plans are in place to cope with future train failures and how longer trains will reduce problems in future. A full list of questions and answers can be seen on the Council’s website in the agenda for this meeting. Hard copies are also available on request by telephoning 01727 819526 or emailing: jo.grimes@stalbans.gov.uk

Councillor Robert Donald, Chair of Scrutiny commented: “As our local commuters would expect, we robustly questioned the senior managers of First Capital Connect and Network Rail attending our meeting on their recent performance and particularly the incident on 26 May 2011, when passengers were stranded for three hours on a packed train without adequate information and support. I was particularly concerned that lessons should be learnt for the future around better communication with commuters and far greater clarity and consistency on their compensation and repayments policy.

“Their response on the mistakes made and the need for marked improvement was both honest and encouraging. However to ensure these reassurances were translated into real action for rail travellers in the event that a similar event happens again in the future, councillors agreed that I should write as Scrutiny Chair to the Chair of First Capital Connect and Network Rail, requesting their Boards discuss and approve an improvement plan focusing on two matters: firstly improving communication with passengers particularly at times of rail disruption, overcrowding and distress; secondly providing greater transparency and clarity on their companies’ policies relating to refunds and compensation and the criteria for universal eligibility. Their agreed action plan on both these issues should be notified to us as soon as possible.

“My letter is also being copied to the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP Secretary of State for Transport and the Transport Minister Norman Baker, our local MPs and Association of Public Transport Users, (APTU), amongst others. We also agreed to invite First Capital Connect and Network Rail to another Scrutiny Committee in six months time to monitor progress on the implementation of their improvements.

“I would like to thank all the members of the public who sent in questions for the meeting. First Capital Connect’s responses to these are available on the Council’s website, or in a hard copy by request via email: scrutiny@stalbans.gov.uk or telephone: 01727 819529.”

Sunday 17 July 2011

A guest blog posting from Claire Scammell

My name is Claire Scammell and I live and work in St Albans. I am a project manager at The Language Factory, a translation agency based in the city. My colleague Donaji and I are taking part in a trek in Malawi in October to raise funds for the MicroLoan Foundation, a small charity which is making a massive difference to the lives of women in Africa. The charity provides small loans and mentoring to help women start businesses and work their way out of poverty.

The Language Factory is paying all the costs of the trek so anything we raise goes directly to MicroLoan and will also match anything we raise. Donaji & I have been working hard to raise funds and awareness; when we get to Malawi and meet the women MicroLoan are supporting, we really want to feel that we did as much as we could with this opportunity to help.

I took part in the St Albans Half Marathon back in June and have been catering home-cooked lunches for my colleagues to raise funds. Donaji & I have also set up a tuck shop in the office and have been doing odd jobs in exchange for a donation to MicroLoan.

Our biggest challenge so far has definitely been entering the JustTextGiving video competition and we really need your help with this! The idea is to make a video showing how you are fundraising using the new JustTextGiving service, upload it to YouTube and get as many views as you can. The video with the most views by the 23rd August will win the £500 for their charity.

We are currently in 3rd place so really stand a chance of winning! Please watch our video and share it however you can, it is only 1 minute long and features our very beautiful Verulamium park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrSrYkpuIXE

If you’d like to find out more about what we’re up to or pledge your support, please visit www.justgiving.com/claire-donaji