Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Recreational Services and Health, Councillor Donald Nannestad:

a)    presented his report and highlighted the activity and performance within his portfolio

b)    reported on several achievements during the year which were as follows:

·         Regeneration of Boultham Park, mainly funded by the Heritage Lottery fund had been completed.

·         With regards to physical activity, the level of adult population aged 16+ counted as “active” was 70% in Lincoln, which was the highest of any district in Lincolnshire.

·         Life expectancy was 8.6 years lower for men and 7.5 years lower for women in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas.

c)    advised that the 2017 Lincoln 10K was again operated by a ‘not for profit’ organisation ‘Run For All’ and continued to be a success.

d)    stated that the campsite at Hartsholme Country park had received more visitor bookings than ever before with the exception of the month of October, figures for every month being higher than the previous year.

e)    invited members’ questions and comments.

Question: Were there more children solely relying on the foodbank?

Response: The information wasn’t available to hand at this time however officers would seek out the relevant data and forward to members under separate cover.

Question: Were there programmes available at Yarborough Leisure Centre for obese children?

Response: The City of the Lincoln Council was looking to increase healthy living and had contributed to this in a number of ways such as:-

• The cafés at both Yarborough and Birchwood Leisure Centres had been designed to provide healthier options.
• Ensuring that the both gyms were more accessible for activities such as soft play.
• Engaging with schools to increase accessibility of activities.
• Promoting the use of football pitches and ensuring that they were more accessible.

Question: Could it be quantified how many people were just moving to Birchwood from another gym purely for price reasons and not new people joining altogether?

Response: Other providers were protective over their statistics so it would be difficult to gauge. The Council offered a ‘pay as you go’ service which not all private sector businesses operated. People joining from deprived areas would be ideal customers, however people who wanted to swap from their current gym to Birchwood were welcome to do so. A breakdown of statistics for membership would be sought separately.

Question: What had the City of Lincoln Council done to help young people get active or engage in physical activity?

Response: In order to engage young people, the Council had helped promote the following:

• As part of the 10K contract, the Council had been involved in organising junior events, which were free of charge. It gave young people the opportunity to get involved in a competitive race or take part for fun.
• Swimming programmes at Yarborough Leisure Centre for local schools.
• Ensuring the facilities were suitable for youth/adult football teams.
• Discovery weekends including archery and various other sports etc.
• Cycling Sportif in Lincoln.

Question: Were there any plans in place to improve the car park at Hartsholme Country Park?

Response: A survey was carried out on the car park to expand the area, however due to the problems with the tree roots and drainage it would cost £400,000 to carry out substantial work on it which unfortunately due to budget constraints, could not be funded at the moment.

Question: When the funding was withdrawn for grass cutting, had it been highlighted in the Citizen Panel Survey?

Response: It was hard to gauge due to how the survey was being filled out. Members of the public rarely stated whether they were very satisfied/very dissatisfied with a service. In the past ‘neither’ was provided as an option however, on recent surveys it wasn’t included so that could make a difference to the responses. With regards to grass cutting in general, grass verges were still having regular cuts so there had been no significant impact.

Question: With regards to external contractors, was the work being carried out to a sufficient standard?

Response: Contractors were being monitored regularly on the work being carried out.

RESOLVED that:

1)    The following information be provided to members:

·         Foodbank usage figures.

·         Breakdown of membership statistics for Birchwood Leisure Centre.

2)    The contents of the report be noted.