Their final judgement of the inspection team was that South Holland provides a fair service but more importantly that it has good prospects for improvement. This means that the Council is performing as strongly as any other Council in England in concentrating on developing these services and the tax payers of the district can confidently expect improvement in the future.
Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder Nick Worth is pleased with the result and said:
"Although I am disappointed that the inspectors did not agree with me that we provide a good service in these areas, this is a good inspection result that acknowledges the effort and investment that we are making in these services.
Improving our leisure facilities and getting more people participating in sport is a Council priority and the real headline figure is that we are increasing opportunities for people to take part in sport and leisure in the district. In 2006 we opened the Peele Leisure Centre in Long Sutton through an imaginative partnership approach and over 100,000 people every year now participate in sporting activities at that location.
In the last year visits to Ayscoughfee Hall Museum increased by 33%, South Holland Centre by 17%, the Peele Leisure Centre by a massive 229% and at the two Sports Centres in Spalding and Long Sutton combined there was an increase of 16%, which represents a total of over 50,000 additional visits."
Council Chief Executive Terry Huggins said that although the Council does not agree with the assessment of a fair service that he is pleased that the report has emphasised the impact of the work the Council is doing with its partners to improve the health profile of the district. Terry said:
"The really important message that I take from this is that it is clear that greater access to sport is improving the health of people in the district which means that this is becoming an even better place to live. Life expectancy is above average and early deaths from killer diseases such as cancer are lower than the England average. Teenage pregnancy rates are coming down and children are more physically active in South Holland than elsewhere with nearly all under sixteen year olds spending at least two hours a week on sport. We will build on this success to continue improving quality of life in South Holland".
