Charitable trusts: municipal leisure's "third way'?

Abstract

This paper critically examines whether charitable leisure trusts reflect a "third way' approach to service delivery. The research found that the trust investigated benefited from an enhanced leisure focus and the combination of a "business- like' approach and public sector ethos to produce: £2 million investment in facilities; a substantial reduction in council subsidy; reduced staff absenteeism; and a cultural change that extended middle managers' decision-making responsibilities to generate greater service ownership and customer focus. In addition, the knowledge and experience of those invited onto the trust's board of management provided quicker and better decisions more applicable to the prevailing leisure industry. However, the trust hadn't realized its "third way' potential because the council didn't appreciate the wider implications of New Labour's modernizing agenda. Its prime concern was with the pragmatic (financial) benefits from externalizing leisure facilities, rather than extensive strategic thought about the nature of the new organization being created, its environment, or role in the local area. This led to decisions that mitigated against a joined-up service.