The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Staffing levels at South Holland leisure centres led to the operating company being ‘put on notice’ by the district council, a report has revealed.
Parkwood Leisure was put under scrutiny by South Holland District Council after a series of closures at centres both in Spalding and Long Sutton in April.
A report to be presented to councillors next week outlined a list of problems during April and May, resulting from staffing issues.
Members of the Performance Monitoring Panel will be discussing a quarterly update on the situation at a meeting due to be held on Wednesday.
During the first quarter of the year, there were ten incidents at the Peele Leisure Centre, Long Sutton, including one closure and nine partial closures.
At Spalding’s Castle complex a total of 22 incidents were recorded which led to three full closures and 19 partial closures.
All of the incidents took place prior to the month-long closure after serious floods hit the centre in August.
A report relating to the earlier incidents said: “Parkwood Leisure was put on notice during the quarter, while the council started investigating each closure.”
Members of the committee were also told the company was put on notice while the council investigated the issues.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Coun Gary Taylor, portfolio holder for communities and facilities, said the problems were related to staffing issues which had been resolved.
“They took on extra people and offered more money to retain staff,” he said.
The report shows a staff structure change designed to help prevent the issue recurring. Monthly contract meetings were also taking place between the council and the leisure company.
Severe flooding in August meant the complex pool was closed for almost a month but the staff were retained.
Coun Taylor said he was hopeful a £20m bid to replace the ageing leisure centre would prove successful.
The Castle Sports complex would be completely renovated if the Levelling Up Fund cash is awarded.
Saying the current design was ‘ridiculous’, Coun Taylor said the money would enable the construction of new facilities which would benefit residents in the area.
