Lewisham’s mayor and cabinet unanimously awarded a leisure management contract behind closed doors last week (August 12) in an unscheduled meeting – but has still not released the contractor’s name.  

The borough’s leisure facilities are currently managed on behalf of the council by two contractors, 1Life for the Downham Health and Leisure Centre and Fusion Lifestyle for the rest.  

Fusion recently warned staff they were at risk of redundancy, while trade union Unite is calling for leisure contracts to be brought in-house to protect workers. 

Unless the overview and scrutiny business panel calls in the decision at its meeting on Tuesday (August 18), the contract will come into effect on Wednesday (August 19).  

The entire meeting was held in private, with the only information available to the public that a decision on “permission to award a leisure management contract” would be made.   

The decision was made behind closed doors “due to commercial sensitivities” being discussed, a spokesperson for the council said.   

A notice was posted online after the meeting, which stated: “Having considered a confidential officer report, and a presentation by Councillor Andre Bourne, the mayor and cabinet agreed the recommendations as set out in the report by 7-0.  

“The decision will become effective on August 19, 2020 unless called in by the overview and scrutiny business panel.” 

A spokesperson for the council said the decision “will be subject to the same scrutiny process all reports go through”.

“It will be discussed at the next overview and scrutiny business panel meeting August 18.   

“The council will publish and communicate its final decision in respect of the leisure services contract, as soon as it is reasonably practicable, after the report has been through the council’s decision-making processes,” she said.  

The meeting of mayor and cabinet was also not scheduled to take place in the key decision plan, and appeared to suddenly emerge on the calendar the week before. No comment was made to explain the lateness of the addition. 

A private meeting can only be held without 28 days’ notice after the agreement of the chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee has been obtained that the meeting is urgent and cannot reasonably be delayed

The Department for Communities and Local Government published a report in 2014 which said that councils must give 28 days warning if they intend to hold a meeting in private. 

It states: “A private meeting can only be held without 28 days’ notice after the agreement of the chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee has been obtained that the meeting is urgent and cannot reasonably be delayed. 

“In the absence of the overview and scrutiny committee chairman, the permission of the council chairman (or, in their absence, the vice chairman) must be obtained. 

“If this agreement is granted the council must publish a notice about why the meeting is urgent and cannot be deferred. 

“This notice must be available at its offices and on their website. 

“If agreement is not given then the meeting must either be held in public, or the council must comply with the 28 day notice requirements.”