The Culture and Environment Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to review the performance of the council's leisure centres and consider the panel's work programme for the upcoming year. The meeting agenda also included a discussion on the progress of various transport schemes.

Leisure Centre Contract Performance

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on the contract management performance of the council's leisure operator, Greenwich Leisure Ltd. (GLL), which trades as Better. The report, authored by Matthew Watts, Head of Sport & Leisure, was to cover the period from January to December 2025. GLL has managed the council's six public leisure facilities – Albany Leisure Centre, Arnos Swimming Pool, Bramley Bowls Centre, Edmonton Leisure Centre, Southbury Leisure Centre, and Southgate Leisure Centre – since December 2023 on an interim contract, which was later extended to December 2026 with an optional two-year extension.

The report was expected to detail customer visits, membership numbers, customer demographics, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. In 2025, leisure centres were projected to have up to 1.2 million visits, a significant increase from 2024. Southbury Leisure Centre was the busiest, while Arnos Swimming Pool had the fewest visitors. The majority of visitors (86.5%) were from within the borough, with a smaller percentage coming from neighbouring areas like Barnet. Membership numbers also saw a substantial rise in 2025, with health and fitness members increasing by 14.9% and learn to swim programme members by 26.9%.

Customer demographics indicated that over half of leisure centre users identified as white, a slightly higher proportion than the borough's total. Usage was higher among females than males, which contrasted with Sport England's Active Lives Survey and was potentially explained by targeted work by GLL's Community Team to encourage women's participation. Customer satisfaction was measured through Trustpilot, with a rating of 3.8 stars for Enfield facilities, an improvement from the previous year. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) also showed a positive trend, moving from -32 in 2023 to 7 in 2025.

A significant portion of the report was dedicated to Edmonton Leisure Centre, which underwent a shared investment partnership with GLL. The council invested £2.5 million, with GLL contributing over £5 million, to safeguard the centre's future. The dry side facilities reopened in April 2025, followed by the main pool in August 2025 and the teaching pool in December 2025. Planning was also underway for a third phase of works to enhance the family offer at Edmonton Leisure Centre.

The report highlighted that the council's leisure centres are a core element of the borough's sport and leisure provision, supporting the Council Plan priority of Strong, Healthy and Safe Communities and the objective of improving our leisure and sports opportunities to enable more active lifestyles.

Work Programme 2025/26

The panel was scheduled to review and note the Culture & Environment Scrutiny Panel Work Programme for 2025/26. This programme outlines the topics that the panel intends to discuss and scrutinise throughout the year. Previous discussions noted in the work programme included topics such as the Heritage Strategy, the Dugdale Arts Centre, Forty Hall, and Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs), Quieter Neighbourhoods, and School Streets. The upcoming meeting's inclusion of Leisure Centre Contract Performance was a specific request from panel members.

Dates of Future Meetings

The panel was also scheduled to note the dates of future meetings, with the next one planned for 16th March 2026.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The panel was to consider passing a resolution under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from Part 2 of the agenda. This is typically done when discussions involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, such as details relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person or the authority itself. Item 8, which also relates to Leisure Centre Contract Performance, was identified as containing such exempt information.