Peterborough leisure services transfer to council completed

Arts, Culture and Heritage services transferred to City Culture Peterborough (under City College Peterborough which is a function of the council), while sports and leisure services transferred to Peterborough Ltd, a wholly owned company of the council, on September 30.

Both organisations have experience in commercial development and service delivery and as such are ideal for taking over the running of leisure and heritage in our city. They will though rely on the expertise of Vivacity subject matter experts who transferred under TUPE legislation to both organisations on the same date. Alongside Vivacity, the council adhered to the statutory consultation with staff and the Trade Unions to achieve the proposed transfer.

Extension of 90-day transfer to end of September made sense for staff and users of Vivacity services and guaranteed the handover was a smooth one with minimal impact for all.

Councillor Steve Allen, cabinet member for leisure at Peterborough City Council, said: “This was a complex transition involving the future of different services, venues and staff, made even more difficult by Covid-19.

“To transfer all of our leisure and cultural services across the city with minimal impact on customers in just over 100 days is a massive success.

“We tried to keep the running of services as normal as possible to achieve this, while adhering to Covid-19 social distancing restrictions.

“Peterborough City Council, City Culture Peterborough and Peterborough Limited believe that arts, leisure and heritage services are key to the city’s long-term future and in helping Peterborough recover following Covid-19.”