Lib Dems urge community involvement in Civic management decision

Liberal Democrat councillors are urging community involvement in how the new Civic should be run. The recent decision by the Council's Conservative Executive that the management should be contracted out to a commercial operator was 'called-in' by Lib Dem councillors for scrutiny by the Community & Health Scrutiny Committee. They argued that any departure from an in-house operation that has been the norm for all council services should be considered by the whole council and not just the nine members of the Executive. Also that local organisations, community groups and other users should be consulted on how the new Civic should be run, and that council-tax payers should be asked what level of subsidy would be acceptable to them.

Cllr Anne Meredith, Liberal Democrat Finance spokesperson, commented "The people of Guildford will see tens of millions of their money spent on the new Civic. It would be disgraceful if the new building was then handed over to a commercial operator to run for profit without ensuring there was sufficient provision for community use of the facilities. Since the new Civic will continue to need a significant subsidy from council-tax payers whoever runs it, the Council should be asking residents how much would be acceptable."

At the Scrutiny Committee meeting last week, three options for managing the new Civic were discussed: commercial operation, in-house management by the Council, and operation by a Trust. The Liberal Democrat recommendation, proposed by Chair Cllr Tony Phillips & seconded by Vice-Chair Cllr Anne Meredith, was agreed in part. It was agreed to request the Executive to take into account the views of all council members on the preferred management option, via a debate at a meeting of the full Council, when making their final decision on how the new Civic will be managed.

Cllr Tony Phillips said "I am pleased that the committee has agreed a recommendation to the Executive that they seek the views of the whole council. The Civic is a major development using council-tax payers' money, and the Council has a huge responsibility to get this right. The decision on whether it should be run in-house, by a trust, or by an independent private operator will set the operating framework for many years and will influence the types of events staged at the new Civic. We know that the Council is able to run facilities well and in the best interests of residents: Spectrum is run in-house and has been publicly acclaimed as the one of the best sports facilities in the country."

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However the Conservative majority on the Committee voted down proposals for consultation on community use and the acceptable level of subsidy. Cllr Tony Phillips added "It was disappointing that the Conservatives rejected consultation on what sort of events people wanted and needed. Do they really want 'cage-wrestling' for example, even if it would be a money-earner? And we really need a public discussion of how much of the programming should be given over to events such as concerts by Guildford orchestras and young people's alcohol-free discos. The Civic has been closed for so many years that we need to re-assess the need for community use to find what new groups would be interested and this can only be done in consultation with residents. The Liberal Democrats will keep pressing for a transparent process with full involvement from the community."