This meeting considered a report on the performance of the council's external leisure provider, Live Borders. The meeting was also scheduled to confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

Live Borders performance report: Quarter 2 2024/25

The External Services/Providers Monitoring Group were scheduled to consider a report on the second quarter performance of Live Borders, which manages a range of services in the Scottish Borders on behalf of the council.

The report covered the monitoring of Live Borders' performance against the targets set out in its Service Provision Agreement (SPA) with the council, including a number of Key Strategic Indicators (KSIs).

The report explained that:

The joint transformational change programme will consider performance management arrangements as part of the work undertaken to update the Service Provision Agreement and review existing governance arrangements including reviewing the Performance Management Framework.

The report explained that the Active Schools and Sports Development services, which were previously delivered by Live Borders, have been transferred back to Scottish Borders Council as of 1 October 2024. These services will no longer be included in future reports to the Group.

The report also explained that the council will consider a report on options for the future delivery of cultural and community services in December 2024. The services under consideration are:

• Libraries
• Museums, Galleries, Archives
• Visitor Attractions (The Great Tapestry of Scotland, Heart of Hawick and The Jim Clark Motorsport Museum)
• Arts & Creativity service
• Town Halls
• Community Centres

The report then provided a detailed breakdown of Live Borders' performance against a range of Key Strategic Indicators, noting that both long term performance trends and short term performance against target should be taken into account when considering the report.

A number of case studies were included in the report:

• Grove House Swimming
• Family Fun Day – Jim Clark Motorsport Museum
• Summer Reading Challenge
• Arts Workshops

The report concluded by summarising Live Borders' current financial position, noting that it continues to face significant financial challenges and the Board are currently considering options to mitigate budget pressures in-year.

The report recommended that the Group note the report's contents and determine whether they are satisfied that it accurately reflects the performance of Live Borders.

Confirmation of 3 September 2024 minutes

The committee were scheduled to confirm the minutes of their previous meeting, which was held on 3 September 2024.