Decision

The Director of Neighbourhood Services will
commence a tender process to outsource the provision of the Wirral
Watersports Centre, by way of an accompanying lease for the
affected assets and licence to utilise the West Kirby Marine Lake
for the provision of Watersports activities. This is in accordance
with the decision taken by Budget Council on 3rd March 2025 to
deliver £1m savings as part of the Active Wirral Change
Programme of activity.

Reasons for the decision

The Council is committed to retaining a
Watersports offer at the Wirral Watersports Centre, however the
provision of Watersports is a “non-standard” and more
specialist leisure provision. A healthy market of specialist
Watersports providers exists that would likely be able to retain,
grow and develop the existing offer. Additionally, the Council
cannot afford to continue to subsidise the existing operation at
the site, and outsourcing provides a unique opportunity to
eliminate the existing level of subsidy and provide an over and
above level of income to the Council through leasing of the asset
and licencing of the lake.

Soft Market Testing was undertaken earlier in early 2025 and there
was significant interest from local, regional and national
organisations. This then led to the formation of a project team to
develop the proposal to outsource the entire operation.

An eight-week public consultation on the Council’s proposal
to outsource was undertaken on the ‘Have Your Say’
platform between 28th August and 23rd October 2025. The
consultation data shows the majority of respondents are in favour
of the outsourcing. Key considerations are as follows: -

• 439 responses to the consultation were received
• 139 respondents (31.7%) STRONGLY SUPPORTED the
proposal
• 122 respondents (27.8%) SUPPORTED the proposal
• 102 respondents (23.2%) NEITHER SUPPORTED nor OBJECTED to
the proposal
• 37 respondents (8.4%) OBJECTED to the proposal
• 39 respondents (8.9%) STRONGLY OBJECTED to the
proposal.

The most commonly cited themes in support of outsourcing are set
out in the published ODN form.

Where the proposals were unsupported / objected to, the most
commonly themes are are set out in the published ODN form.

In addressing the themes that accompanied the objections to the
outsourcing proposal, the response would be as follows.

1. Excess Profits, Accountability & Oversight

The contractual documents and accompanying legal agreements, leases
and licences will ensure that the provider will not make excess
profits on its activities, and that the Council will have
sufficient legally binding oversight of the providers operations
with agreed step-in and break clauses where appropriate.

2. Unsuccessful Elsewhere

This comment is unsubstantiated and without a supporting evidence
base. The New Brighton example referred to was not a Watersports
operation, nor comparable to the West Kirby proposal.

3. Outsource Café Only

This was given consideration and discounted at an early stage. The
interconnection of the facility would make a two-provider operation
extremely difficult to manage and blur lines of responsibility and
accountability for costs associated with the facility. Providers
responding to the soft market testing exercise expressed a
preference for the full asset to be in scope due to the synergies
of being able to present a holistic multi service complementary
offer. It is unlikely that the Council would achieve best value
outcomes with a split site offer to the market.

4. Ensure an Appropriate Operator

Responses to the soft market testing exercise demonstrated that
there was significant interest from well stablished and experienced
local, regional and national organisations proficient in the
delivery of Watersports offers. Moreover, these operators were
committed to accessibility and affordability for all and
demonstrated strong social ethics. The Social Value element of any
tender exercise will ensure bidders and providers consider social
outcomes as a key consideration of their offer.

Alternative options considered

The Council could retain operation of the site
as an in-house leisure facility. This option is not recommended as
it is unlikely to diminish or eliminate the subsidy at which the
site operates and will not provide a regular and sustainable income
for the Council to support the delivery of the Medium-Term
Financial Plan.

The Council could close the facility. This option is not
recommended as it would conflict with the outcomes of the
Council’s Sport & Physical Activity Strategy in making
Sport and Physical Activity a part of everyone’s everyday
lives. Also, there is a vibrant community of Watersports
enthusiasts that use the lake on a regular basis and come from
nationwide locations to do so. The facility is unique in its
location and contributes to the fabric of the local economy as a
destination site therefore the Council wishes for the facility to
continue to provide services.