Dear all
Please dont forget this is the Final Public Meeting as part of the consultation on the future of York Hall before the report and recommendations go to the Cabinet and Full Council in February.
Do come! 6.30pm for 7pm until 8.30pm at York Hall, Tuesday 9th December.
Thank you
John
Cllr. John Griffiths
(Bethnal Green North Ward)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
(Bethnal Green North Ward)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
----- Original Message -----
From: John Griffiths
To: Ray Gerlach
Cc: Mark Norman ; Paul Martindill
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2003 3:20 PM
Subject: York Hall - Public Meeting 7pm Tuesday 9th December
Dear Ray
I was extremely annoyed not to have received a reply to this email (below) prior to the meeting of the York Hall Consultative Group last Thursday.
As you know, the main recommendation of the Group is that the best solution in terms of securing a future for York Hall at this moment in time is to negotiate with the incoming leisure contractor a 15 year programme of refurbishment and maintenance.
Best and Final Offers have now been submitted by the two final shortlisted contractors.
We are holding a public meeting next Tuesday, 9th December (the final consultative meeting in this process). As things stand, we will be in the unenviable position of saying to the meeting this is our recommendation, but we cant tell you anything about the contractors or their proposals for York Hall.I appreciate that you have to protect the contractual and commercial position of the Council, but it seems all too easy to forget that the users and community of York Hall are also the people whose council taxes pay for this Council and its services.
Please can we find a way to enlighten the meeting on Tuesday so that we have some idea as to what we can expect from the incoming contractors (post April 2004) and over the next 10-15 years.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.
John
Cllr. John Griffiths
(Bethnal Green North Ward)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
(Bethnal Green North Ward)
134 Old Ford Road
London E2 9PW
----- Original Message -----
From: John Griffiths
To: Ray Gerlach
Cc: Paul Martindill
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 8:10 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 (which has been pretty dismal under CCL's management) 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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