Overview and Scrutiny Committee scrutinises community pool decision
MEMBERS of Lancaster City Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee recently decided to ‘call-in’ a decision by Cabinet to hand back the three community pools in Heysham, Hornby and Carnforth to Lancashire County Council.
These pools are currently managed by Lancaster City Council and subsidised to the tune of around £133,500. The pools are mainly used to provide swimming for schools and swimming clubs.
As its meeting on January 19, the city council’s Cabinet agreed to give the county council 12 months notice to end this partnership.
Cabinet made its decision due to the likelihood that in future years the city council will face a reduction in the funding it receives from the Government to run its services and therefore needs to identify areas where money can be saved.
By giving 12 months notice Cabinet agreed that this would give the county council time to consider the future of their pools.
However, Overview and Scrutiny decided to call-in the decision for scrutiny and committee members met on Monday (February 8) to discuss the issues involved.
The committee resolved that: "Overview and Scrutiny recommend that Cabinet should not give notice to terminate the contract until a suitable agreement is obtained from Lancashire County Council to take over the community swimming pools. If no agreement can be reached within 12 months then Cabinet should review the funding. Parish and town councils should be involved in the talks."
The recommendation will be considered by Cabinet at its next meeting on Tuesday February 16.
Cabinet may decide to accept the recommendation from Overview and Scrutiny, affirm its original decision or come to a new decision on the community pools.
Date Published: 10/02/10