To York Hall Users
Following last evening's meeting, I agreed to write to the Council about the need to use the second and final Public Meeting on the future of York Hall (7pm on 9th December at York Hall) as an opportunity to hear more about the shortlisted Leisure Contractors' plans for York Hall. As you know a new 15 year leisure contract will be let from next April and this is critical to the future operation and refurbishment of the facilities at York Hall.
My letter to Ray Gerlach, the Council's Acting Director responsible for leisure services, is below.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Public Meeting on 9th December.
Many thanks
John
Cllr. John Griffiths
(Bethnal Green North Ward and Chair LAP1)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
(Bethnal Green North Ward and Chair LAP1)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
----- Original Message -----
From: John Griffiths
To: Ray Gerlach
Cc: Paul Martindill
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 8:04 AM
Subject: York Hall
Dear Ray
We had a constructive meeting of the York Hall User Group last evening which Paul and Cllr. Rahman very kindly attended. There was a sense from the discussion and QnA that the Users felt that the work of the Consultative Group has been very thorough and informative. There also seemed to be acceptance that the best solution in terms of securing a future for York Hall at this moment in time is the one recommended in the Report, namely to negotiate with the incoming leisure contractor a 15 year programme of refurbishment and maintenance. As Paul made clear this will still require detailed discussions with each of the bidders, now that their best and final offers have been lodged with the Council, in order to secure the most advantageous deal both for the Authority (and leisure services across the borough) as well as the user community of York Hall and to identify the level of gap funding which the Council is likely to have to find.
The only real bone of contention to emerge last night was over the extent to which the Community Consultation (now entering its final phase) should include sharing in more detail some of the information and proposals which the 2 final shortlisted bidders have offered in relation to York Hall. As you know, following pressure from myself and the other community reps on the Consultative Group, we have increasingly over the past few months argued for bringing together our work on shaping a future for York Hall with the process of reletting the Leisure Contract. In retrospect, this seems to have been a very good strategy. This culminated in community representatives on the Consultative Group meeting each of the final shortlisted bidders to discuss York Hall so that they were fully aware of the issues and concerns of the users prior to the submission of final offers.
It was explained to us that officers will now be talking to each of the bidders about their final offers prior to a recommendation going to the Cabinet in February 2004, along with the final Report and Recommendations on York Hall. Following our meeting last evening, I am now writing to urge you to consider our using the final consultation meeting on York Hall (scheduled for 7pm on 9th December) as an opportunity for users and the public to hear more about the bids/plans for York Hall. This should, preferably, be directly from the contractors themselves; if absolutely necessary it could be relayed indirectly by officers who have been involved in negotiations.
Paul was concerned about the potential risk to the Authority at this late stage, and before contracts are signed, of disclosing too much commercially sensitive information. However, there is at least a counter argument to that in that the process, and the all-important tripartite relationship, between the Council, the local community and the contractor needs to be based on honesty and trust from the very outset. The quality of such an important public service can only be improved by fully involving users and stakeholders at every possible opportunity.
In short, given the recommendation of the report (and the onus it places on the all important new leisure contract) I am strongly asking you to consider how we can involve the final bidders in the meeting on 7th December. I am aware that we must not expose the Council to any potential financial risk or liability in so doing, but there must surely be a compromise which we can reach so that this process is completed to everyone's satisfaction.
Many thanks. I look forward to your reponse.
Yours sincerely
John
Cllr. John Griffiths
(Bethnal Green North Ward and Chair LAP1)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
(Bethnal Green North Ward and Chair LAP1)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
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