By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter
Council leaders are set to make a decision on the future of leisure contracts in Southampton – but little detail has been released to the public.
Entrance to the council chamber. Photo: LDRS
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Members of Southampton City Council’s cabinet will meet on Tuesday, September 17, where one of the items on the agenda concerns leisure services.
Unlike other subjects to be discussed, including appointing an implementation partner for the major transformation programme, no public report has been published online.
The local authority has said it is not in the public interest to disclose this information as the report contains “confidential and commercially sensitive information” in relation to a supplier.
“It would prejudice the council’s ability to operate in a commercial environment and obtain best value in contract negotiations and would prejudice the council’s commercial relationships with third parties if they believed the council would not honour obligations of confidentiality,” the online page said.
The report, which has not been released, is “outlining the future of leisure contracting services”.
Other items at the meeting have confidential appendix documents alongside a publicly accessible report, which details background information and the recommendations cabinet will consider.
When asked by the LDRS why no report was available on the leisure service, a spokesperson said all that could be confirmed in advance of the meeting was the decision related to a leisure provider contract extension.
Information relating to the item and the report should be made available after a decision has been made on the subject at next week’s meeting, council leaders have said.
However, opposition Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Baillie, pictured left, described the situation as “quite strange”.
He said: “You would normally get the report and then the financial stuff is in an appendix which is confidential.
“I will have to dig into it.”
Cllr Baillie added: “Why shouldn’t the public know?
“They don’t have to know the financial details necessarily but they should know what’s being debated so that they can, if nothing else, try and sway councillors or cabinet members before the vote is taken.
“The confidential bit has gone too far.”
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