The Provision of Leisure Services Management

This is a notice for the provision of Leisure Services Management. Buckinghamshire Council
are seeking suitably qualified and experienced organisations to provide this service.

The contract opportunity includes the Buckinghamshire Leisure Services Management Contract (the Contract) which comprises the following leisure centres:

• Aqua Vale Leisure Centre, Aylesbury a leisure pools site with fitness and outdoor 3G pitches
• Swan Pool and Leisure Centre, Buckingham, a pool and fitness site, with outdoor 3G
• Beacon Sports Centre & Theatre, Beaconsfield, a sports hall and fitness site, with mini soccer outdoor pitches.
• Evreham Centre, Iver – small sports hall and fitness site, with outdoor 3G and grass pitches.
• Little Marlow Running Track – 8 lane athletics track

The Council is also interested to understand the Operator’s view of the opportunities presented by including the management of the South Buckinghamshire Golf Course as a Variant Bid Option. The Council is developing a new outdoor hub in Winslow and this facility may be included in the Contract once built.

The Council intends to request a variant bid to be submitted for the management of the centre to gauge market interest and understand the likely cost to manage it, given the outline information available to date about the centre. The Council can provide no guarantee that the centre will be delivered, and the inclusion of such facility will be via the change protocol in the Contract.

The Contract term will be 5 years, 3 months, (with an optional extension of up to 12 months) intended to commence 1st April 2024.

The Facilities are currently managed by several operators, Everyone Active (SLM), GLL and More Leisure, whose contracts expire on the 31st March 2024.

The annual turnover of the centres is - £3.6m. Therefore, the value of the contract is the annual turnover x 5.25 (years) = £18.9m (approximately)

Capital Investment – given the medium term length of the contract, the Council is not intending that significant works are undertaken as part of the contract. However, if operators deem that small scale improvements can be made (and will payback during the contract term), to improve the financial position and meet the Council’s outcomes, this would be welcomed.

Buckinghamshire Physical Activity Strategy 2018-23: Making physical activity a priority - The Council has developed its Physical Activity Strategy. The aims of the strategy is to increase levels of activity by encouraging inactive residents into regular activity throughout their lives and to increase the number of residents achieving the Chief Medical Officer guidelines for physical activity throughout life. The specification includes outcomes from the strategy which the Contractor will be expected to deliver as part of the management of the leisure centres.

TUPE & Pensions - This Procurement may be subject to the transfer of employees under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“TUPE”) as amended by the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2014. The application of TUPE will always be a matter of law. The Council will assist Candidates by making TUPE information available where possible. It is recommended that Candidates seek their own legal advice regarding this area of employment law. There are a small number of employees who are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Further information and risk profile between the parties will be provided at ISIT stage.

To access the tender documentation, you will need to register via the Buckinghamshire Business Portal

https://www.supplybucksbusiness.org.uk/buckscc/portal.nsf/content/DEVA-A4NC3Z

A Competitive Procedure with Negotiation process is being used;

Stage one of this process comprises this Standard Selection Questionnaire (SSQ) designed as an initial assessment to identify and shortlist suitable potential Candidates – this document. The shortlist will include a minimum of three organisations.

Stage two will be the Invitation to Submit Initial Tenders (ISIT), involving those organisations identified and selected from stage one.

It is intended that Candidates will be deselected at this stage as the Council enters a Revised Tender (ISRT) stage.
However, the Council reserves the right to award the Contract on the basis of initial tenders and reserves the right not to negotiate.

Stage three will be the Invitation to Submit Revised Tenders (ISRT) for those bidders successful at ISIT stage. If requested by the Council, ISRT stage shall comprise a number of negotiation meetings to explore with Candidates their ISIT solution (or specific parts thereof) followed by the opportunity for bidders to submit Revised Tenders.

The Council is using as a basis of its contract, the template Sport England ‘Leisure Operating Contract’. This has been amended to be project specific and is supplied at this SSQ stage for information

The Contractor will be granted leases to have rights of access to the facilities. The leases will be co-terminus with the expiry of the Contract.

All tender documentation will be made available on the Buckinghamshire Business Portal.

Short-listed Candidates as a result of this SSQ stage, will be required to provide a structured response to the initial tender documents via method statements at the relevant stages of the process.

Candidate Information Day – To provide Candidates further information on the scope of services, a ‘’Candidates Information Day’ is being held on 5th July 2023, following the selection of Candidates who will be invited to submit an Initial Tender. This will allow Candidates to meet the Council and view the facilities. Further information will be provided within the Invitation to Submit Initial Tender documentation.

Facility Visits - During the Tender stages Candidates will have the opportunity to arrange further visits to the Leisure Centres within contract scope by making arrangements via the Buckinghamshire Business Portal.

The deadline for stage one and submitting completed Standard Selection Questionnaire is 12 noon on 12th June 2023.