UPDATE 30 April 2025 – Ill thoughtout privatisation push collapses
UNISON welcome the news that recent privatisation proposals for Denbighshire Leisure Ltd have collapsed. The proposals would have been damaging to workers pay, terms and conditions and would have seen private individuals extracting profit from the company in a way that can only have harmed the services for the residents of Denbighshire.
Our priority now, as ever, is to ensure the service is sustainable, fairly and democratically run for the benefit of the residents of Denbighshire. We have reached out to the council once more asking for staff and their unions to be involved in the process of planning the future. As we have said throughout this process a range of stakeholders also need to be consulted including the service users and the public.
A variety of options should have been explored from the outset with a proper appraisal of the merits of different options considered. As part of our opposition to the ill-thought out proposals we commissioned research from the Association for Public Service Excellence APSE. This paper will soon be shared with union members and councillors. We hope that Denbighshire County Council will take note and will use it as a contribution in the ‘lessons learned’ process that they now need to undertake. The paper points out many avoidable flaws in the process that has been followed this time around.
We now have the opportunity to re-set and to deliver a sustainable public service for the benefit of the public and not for the enrichment of a few private individuals.
Earlier Updates
Denbighshire County Council have released the following statement
‘A proposal was put forward to a special Council meeting yesterday for a change to the operating model for leisure services in the county. This was approved by Members and means that in the next few months the business of DLL will transfer to a new company owned by the management team. Considerable work will be done over the coming months to progress this proposal, and all staff will be kept updated of progress.’
UNISON are disappointed with the outcome of the council meeting and continue to have considerable concerns about the implications for staff, service users and the wider community. We will provide a further update on the next steps in our campaign when we have clarity on what information we are allowed to share.
Look out for future meetings and information sharing events on this matter.
Members working for Denbighshire Leisure
Many of you will already have been contacted by UNISON for a discussion and for us to hear your views and questions. If you have not yet received a call you can request one via our contact form here. We are preparing to come around Denbighshire Leisure workplaces and we will provide a further update on this shortly.
Please make sure your UNISON membership and contact details are up to date you can check these and update them on https://my.unison.org.uk/
Denbighshire Leisure Uncertainty
You may have seen on social media or heard from colleagues some concerning news about potential changes at Denbighshire Leisure. Your UNISON branch have been trying to get to the bottom of this. We have been promised a meeting to explain proposals on the 6th of March but as yet have not received any official details about what is going to be proposed. We have also requested detailed information on the financial situation between Denbighshire County Council and Denbighshire Leisure Ltd.
We do know that a number of new private companies have been set up in connection with Denbighshire Leisure during December and January. These are registered on companies house and their details are in the public domain.
UNISON’s Position
Our position is clear we will fight to protect workers terms and conditions and pay, we will oppose any attempt to bring in a two tier workforce and will fight for all public services to be delivered by the public sector. You can learn more about our policies in relation to the pitfalls of privatisation and the benefits of publicly owned services here https://www.unison.org.uk/our-campaigns/bringing-services-home/
What next?
We have already reached out to Councillors and officers to try to gain more information on what is happening. We know that we must be formally consulted and that any proposals will have to go through the democratic processes of the council.
As soon we have the details of the proposals we will be going out to members who are affected and seeking your views. In the mean time if you would like to leave a comment, make contact with us or let us know any questions you want answering then please let us know on the form below.
By using this form you are agreeing to the terms of our privacy notice which you can read here.
