In this case, insourcing, or bringing services back ‘in-house’, means that the council will be taking direct control of LiveWire’s services, facilities and staff.

The picture is very complex. Like the wider leisure sector, LiveWire has been under a lot of pressure due to legacy impacts of COVID, legislation changes to VAT and the allocation of subsidy grants, changing customer habits and the sheer cost of keeping services running. Heating swimming pools, for example, is far more expensive than it used to be, due to high energy prices that we have all seen through our own household bills. According to Community Leisure UK in February 2023, half of the UK’s community swimming pools face closure or service cuts due to increasing energy prices.

These challenges facing LiveWire make it extremely difficult for it to continue to deliver Warrington’s much-valued leisure, libraries and lifestyle services. It is for these reasons that we need to deliver these services in a different way, preserving them for residents into the future.

We are proud of the valuable work LiveWire has done in delivering first class leisure, libraries and lifestyles services over the past decade. Since its inception in 2012, the company has achieved a year-on-year increase in leisure participation, and this continued until the introduction of coronavirus restrictions.

It has consistently delivered good quality services, with key projects being recognised as a national and international exemplar of good practice.

The development of our community hubs has been particularly successful, bringing leisure, library, health and community services under the one roof, and leading the way on inclusion in areas such as physical accessibility and dementia friendly design. LiveWire has also done some fantastic work – through our borough-wide modernisation programme – to bring people back into our libraries.

We are proud of the exceptional work LiveWire colleagues have done since its inception in 2012, and are equally thankful for the strong and decisive leadership of its Board of Directors.

We expect that the insourcing process will be quick – but orderly and well-managed. A transfer date is not yet confirmed, but we expect the insourcing to take place early in 2024, and by June 2024 at the latest.

We have no immediate plans to change the LiveWire brand.

It is our intention to explore if there are other external operators who may be able to deliver LiveWire’s current services.  

LiveWire delivers a wide range of wellbeing services, many of which are integrated or co-located – the organisation was designed and set up to deliver these services in this way back in 2012. 

We believe there are very few or even no alternative providers in the wider market who could effectively deliver these services at a cost that is less than we could deliver in house. However, it is important that we test this to make sure our decision to insource is definitely the best approach. 

We have no immediate plans to close any services, facilities or buildings.

Our priority is to retain the current level of service for customers and staff. We will of course continue to review our libraries, leisure and lifestyle services post-transfer but will be very clear about any future changes, if any are made.

No – we don’t expect your membership to change, other than be subject to the routine annual membership price review.

Our priority is to ensure that current LiveWire services and facilities are brought in-house before the June 2024 deadline, and this will include working through a formal staff transfer - or TUPE - process with employees.

We are too early in the process to know with certainty what staffing structures will look like once teams are brought into council management. However, we are committed to working with staff and trade union colleagues through the TUPE process and we will have in place a clear and open dialogue with LiveWire employees throughout the transition period. 

Further information on issues such as staff pay, terms and conditions will be communicated directly with staff at the appropriate time.

In the interim period until insourcing is complete, the council’s Cabinet has approved an amount up to £4.8million as an interim grant for LiveWire, up to June 2024, so they can continue to keep services operational.

We do not yet know the one-off cost of transitioning services.

We accept that more money will have to be spent to run LiveWire’s services in-house, as the money they have previously received hasn’t been enough to keep services running sustainably and some costs are higher if delivered by the Council rather than an external community interest company.

However, the alternative would be to close down facilities and stop running services – which is an option we are working hard to avoid, given we know how valuable LiveWire’s facilities are to our residents. Continuing to invest in proactive health and wellbeing intervention services, like the services being delivered by LiveWire, is important to help support healthy lifestyles, which in turn will contribute to longer-term public health improvements and a healthier population in Warrington.