Should Have Listened To Drew Tulley?

by OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT EDITOR

As Scottish Borders Council sets about its latest self-made outsourcing mess and considers how best to deliver sports and leisure facilities in future it might be useful to recall the events of 2002 and 2003 which appear to have cost long-suffering local taxpayers many hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

Live Borders, the arm's length company developed by the council from small beginnings in 2003 as Borders Sport & Leisure Trust, has struggled financially for years. Hardly surprising when the local authority has consistently cut the annual management fee before sanctioning a series of bail-outs, including three separate sums totalling more than £2.5 million since March 2023.

And over the years, teams of consultants commissioned by SBC to produce business cases for change have trousered wads of cash for schemes that have invariably failed. Remember the debacle that was SB Cares LLP?

Only last month - according to the Border Telegraph - Councillor David Parker, a former leader of SBC, told a council meeting "what is absolutely clear is that the current size, shape and scale of Live Borders can’t continue as it is, unless SBC can grow a magic money tree. I do think that our officers need to be careful that they are making sure that as a council we are properly ensuring value for money and doing the right thing by the public purse."

However, as council minutes testify, it was Mr Parker who led the way down the arm's length route back in 2002 when the first decision to move swimming pools and 'dry' sports facilities out of SBC's control was taken. 

The crucial vote came at a full council meeting on October 8th of that year. This is an extract from the minutes of the meeting: "Motion by Councillor Parker, seconded by Councillor Borthwick, that the recommendations in the report be approved. Amendment by Councillor Tulley, seconded by Councillor Dumble, that the Council should proceed no further in respect of the establishment of a Trust and that the leisure facilities should be retained in Council control. On a show of hands Members voted as follows:- Motion - 21 votes Amendment - six votes".

It is clear the late Drew Tulley - he led the council before Mr Parker took the reins - was not a fan of outsourcing council leisure services. And he was unhappy that so much of the debate was being conducted behind closed doors.

The official record of proceedings at the January 2003 council meeting shows: "LEISURE TRUST TRANSFER - Councillor Tulley, seconded by Councillor Dumble, moved that the report on the Leisure Trust Transfer proposed for discussion as Private Business, should be considered in Public. Councillor Parker, seconded by Councillor Wight, moved as an amendment that, as various elements of the report fell within the definition of Exempt Information under Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the item be not considered in Public, but that the appropriate matters be covered in a subsequent Press Release. VOTE On a show of hands Members voted as follows:- MOTION – 11 votes. AMENDMENT – 18 votes. The MOTION was accordingly defeated."

Despite losing both votes, Mr Tulley would subsequently make a last-ditch (unsuccessful) bid to keep the pools and sports centres under council control.

According to minutes from a full session of council on March 26th, 2003: "There had been circulated copies of a report by the Director of Lifelong Care on the progress made with the transfer of leisure facilities management to the Borders Sports and Leisure Trust. The report indicated the further work undertaken by the Council Working Group and the Shadow Board and the outstanding issues, and recommended that the timescales for the transfer be extended. 

"MOTION by Councillor Parker, seconded by Councillor Borthwick, that the recommendations contained in the report be approved. AMENDMENT by Councillor Tulley, seconded by Councillor Dumble, that as it now appeared that the transfer would not be in the overall interests of the Borders, the process should be aborted forthwith and the facilities retained in house. On a show of hands Members voted as follows - MOTION – 20 votes. AMENDMENT – 10 votes. The MOTION was accordingly carried."

There were no dissenting voices in 2014 when cultural services - museums, libraries and the like with 200 staff and an annual budget of over £4 million was outsourced to another trust on the recommendation of two sets of consultants.

Coverage of the issue at the time included this: "The council's priority is to save money, and there have been dire warnings that any alternative solution would involve a cull of halls, libraries, museums and community centres. As many as 13 of them would have to close to comply with lower budgets and the need to deliver £275,000 in savings.

Minutes from a full council meeting of February 27th: - Members discussed the proposals including community use and transfer of assets, consultation, staff, and Common Good properties. The general direction of travel was broadly welcomed. Councillor Davidson, seconded by Councillor Aitchison, moved approval of the report.

But yet another 'restructuring' was under the spotlight a little over a year later later with the recommended amalgamation of the two trusts into one large organisation with a £12 million budget. 

An October 2015 meeting was told: "The specific benefits that would accrue to the organisation [Live Borders] are broadly related to its increased scale. For example, the organisation could benefit from economies of scale associated with managerial and back office functions. In addition, it would immediately have a larger combined customer base. It would also have a greater number of physical contact points with customers, providing opportunities to deliver and promote its services. Officers have also considered the extensive experience gained in 2014/15 and lessons learned in setting up SBCares". Oops!

The integration of the two trusts from April 2016 was agreed unanimously.

Fast forward to last Thursday's private meeting of councillors to consider the "challenges" facing Live Borders.

SBC officers will now bring forward yet another report later this month outlining a number of possibilities for the provision of sport, leisure and cultural services currently provided by Live Borders on the Council’s behalf.

The options will be: continuation of the current trust, an alternative arm's length outfit, or services returning in-house to deliver in part or as a whole.