Recreational, cultural and sporting services

Tender description

Newcastle City Council currently delivers sport and leisure activities (“Leisure Services”), to the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England, from leisure facilities which are all owned and run by the Council; together known as the “Leisure Assets”:- All Saints Sports Centre West Denton Way, West Denton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 2TX East End Pool Hadrian Square, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1AL Westgate Centre for Sport The West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 9LG Walker Activity Dome Wharrier Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 3BR The Council is seeking a partner (“Concessionaire), to deliver and improve the Leisure Services on the Council's behalf, under a Concession arrangement (“Contract”), for a period of 20 years. On contracting, the Leisure Assets will be transferred to the selected Concessionaire on a leasehold basis, under full repair and insure obligations and the Leisure Services will then be run by the Concessionaire for the duration of the Contract. In doing so, the Concessionaire will secure the social well-being objectives associated with the Leisure Services, as part of a sustainable and long-term solution. The Concessionaire will specifically deliver the following key objectives for the Council but will also need the flexibility, experience and capacity to adapt to a potentially changing environment:- a) To ensure the long term sustainability of sport and leisure provision, with continued community access,across the City; b) To support the public health agenda of driving improvements in well-being and health; to make our City a fairer, happier and healthier place to live; c) To release the Council from the ongoing cost, insure and repair obligations of the leisure facilities, for the duration of the Contract; and d) To secure the long term good stewardship and improvement of the Leisure Assets including the retention and positive evolution of the range of services on offer to local communities. All of the Leisure Assets, are fully operational and run by Council staff. Entry into the Concession will therefore involve the transfer of operations and a full staff transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. The appointed Concessionaire will therefore be responsible for all future liabilities associated with the transferred staff, including the payment of all future pension liabilities, as at the date of transfer. The Concessionaire will therefore need to be admitted to the relevant pension scheme which is administered by the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund. Accordingly, the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund will advise the Council on the appropriate annual pension rate to be paid by the Concessionaire. The Concessionaire will also be required to secure a bond or guarantee against the risk of future insolvency, winding up or liquidation. Only those parties who are willing and able to meet these requirements should apply. In line with a Concession, the Concessionaire will fund, maintain, run and fully exploit the assets in order to deliver the Leisure Services for the benefit of those living and working in the City, however the Council may be willing to provide short-term financial support during a transitional period in order to secure the long-term sustainability of the facilities, alongside investment potential from the Concessionaire. Please note, All Saints Sports Centre and Westgate Centre for Sport are the subject of an outstanding application for Secretary of State consent under Schedule 1 to the Academies Act 2010 to dispose of school land. Entry into contract is subject to satisfactory consent being received. By virtue of its Service Concession status this opportunity is not subject to the full application of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 or the Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2009. Consequently this is a voluntary notice and the Council is not bound by many of the formalities of the Regulations and therefore reserves the right to use such flexibilities in this procurement process. On this basis the Council will not follow the set Regulations either in terms of process or timescales however it will adhere to its general treaty obligations with regard to equality and transparency.