Tuesday 25 October 2016

Branch urges members to get along to council meetings about alternative service delivery model for sport and culture

The branch is encouraging all affected members to get along to a series of meetings arranged by Aberdeenshire Council in the run-up to the next EL&L Committee.

This committee will consider a report from the project board which includes a commissioned report from Ernst and Young on an alternative service delivery model for sport, culture and community learning and development. The branch will be represented at all these meetings to hear what you think.

Four alternative models that were considered have been narrowed down by the Project Board to the creation of a charitable trust, which would deliver sport and cultural services on behalf of the council, (also known as an Arms Length External Organisation or ALEO) and the potential of an enhanced status quo model through which those services would continue to be directly delivered by the council.

The meeting dates are as follows:
  • North (Fraserburgh CSC) – 11am – 12pm Tuesday, 25 October
  • North (Peterhead Community Theatre) – 3 – 4pm Tuesday, 25 October
  • Central (Meldrum Academy) – 3.30 – 4.30pm Wednesday, 26 October
  • Central (Inverurie Town Hall) – 6 – 7pm Monday, 24 October
  • South (PFR Room, Banchory Academy) – 6 – 7pm Tuesday, 25 October
  • South (Mearns Community Campus) – 6 – 7pm Wednesday, 26 October
On 27th October EL&L committee members will be presented with a report on the work carried out so far before the preferred option is chosen by all councillors at next month’s full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council on 15th November.

The branch has been pressing the council through the working group, project board and elected members to think very carefully before going down any outsourcing route. We have pointed out that ALEOs in other Local Authorities in Scotland have led to cuts in services as well as in staff, and terms and conditions. Aberdeen City is currently seeing the closure of pools in the City by their ALEO, Sport Aberdeen.

The branch has worked to see CLD services removed from this proposal and welcomes the recommendation that CLD services be removed from the scope of this proposal. If the committee agrees, CLD will remain under the direct management of Aberdeenshire Council. We believe that the best way to protect and deliver public services is to keep them in-house.

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