Assurances sought on Mega-Trust for Cultural and Leisure Services

As Labour's Leisure, Arts and Communities spokesperson I have sought reassurances from Councillor Bob Duncan, the Convener of Leisure, Arts and Communities and the Director of Leisure and Communities of Dundee City Council on the proposals for a new mega-trust to deliver leisure and cultural services in Dundee.



Obviously I have served as a director of a number of arms-length companies and trusts and the previous Labour-led Administration used trusts as a means of delivering services so I am not fundamentally opposed to them. I do have concerns about the size and range of the proposed trust, there may be economies of scale but I do wonder whether all the services which are being considered are a good fit. I want to ensure that the people of Dundee continue to receive an excellent service from these cultural and leisure services. I could not support an agenda that was only about cutting cost. These services are crucial to the social and cultural well-being of the city and its citizens, this cannot be counted only in monetary terms. I have asked a number of questions and I hope that these questions will be looked at and responded to in the reasonable manner in which they are asked.



Please find below the questions which I have asked of Councillor Duncan and the Director of Leisure and Communities:



Are these proposals only about saving money? If they are only about saving money then I am prepared to be part of a campaign to have publicly owned museums, libraries and leisure facilities exempted from rates in the way that charities are at the moment.



Does the council actually own all the properties which are proposed to be transferred? Are there any legal obstacles in the way of this project? Many of these facilities were set up by bequests, do these proposals conflict with any of these?



Do these proposals conflict in any way with the councils statutory obligations to provide certain services?



Are the savings envisaged in this proposal realistic and achievable given that the actual shape of the organisation has not yet been agreed? Are savings at this stage a best guest?



Can you explain the VAT position of the proposed trust? Is more VAT irrecoverable due to the fact that at present many of these facilities have no entry fee?



Can a single board focus sufficiently on the issues facing leisure facilities, libraries, a variety of museums from the large McManus Galleries to the small and very specialised, Mills Observatory?



Would the intention be that there would be specialised sub-committees for each area of business? If so would this include experts such as, for example, in the case of the Mills Observatory, the Astronomer Royal for Scotland?



Can you guarantee that there will be no admission charges levied on any of the facilities which are now free to enter? I am particularly conscious that the excellent Dundee Heritage Trust, a trust set-up to run museums in Dundee, requires to charge for admission to both Discovery Point and Verdant Works.



Who will be the custodians of Dundee's heritage? Will it be the City Council or the proposed trust? Will the trust continue to have an acquisitions policy, and budget, for art and cultural artefacts and will the level of spending on library resources be maintained?



Will the network of Community Libraries be maintained? Who could make a decision to close a community library once the trust is set up?



Has any consideration been given to setting up any arms length organisation in a different manner? Greenwich Leisure is a successful example of an employee-run organisation which is successfully running many leisure facilities in London Boroughs. Should we not look at ways of empowering the workforce by setting up an employee-run organisation?



Has any consideration been given to allowing users of the services to form the board of directors? A board which reflects the concerns of the service-users and customers and is accountable to them could be more responsive to the needs of the people of Dundee.



If a traditional board model is accepted can we have some indication of how the board would be selected? Would it represent a wide cross-section of Dundee society or would it be a number of hand-picked appointees?



How do you intend to attract board members? The intended winding up of Dundee Leisure does not value the voluntary contribution of the directors of that body. What guarantee could be given that the new body could not also be abolished at the whim of the council?



Can you guarantee that there will be no attacks on employees' terms and conditions once this trust has been established?



Are the current levels of employment to be maintained? Would budgets and management fees reflect the current level of workforce and service provision? Are savings envisaged by downsizing the workforce?