Following the quality strategy: the reasons for the use of quality management in UK public leisure facilities

Abstract

There can be little debate that there has been an increasing focus on qualityand quality management within the UK public leisure industry which has resulted in the introduction of quality programmes to facilitate leisure management. What has not been debated is why public leisure managers have chosen to adopt quality programmes in the management of their facilities. The research discussed in this paper sought to establish and investigate the reasons underlying the use of quality management in the public sector. The research, carried out in six local authorities, showed that quality management programmes were being implemented into local authority leisure facilities for three reasons. First, quality programmes were the consequence of the development of a customer focus in local authority leisure facilities. Secondly, these programmes had been introduced as a direct response to Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT). Finally, the use of quality programmes was considered to be an indication of an increasingly commercial and professional approach to the management of public leisure facilities, that was thought to be prevalent in contemporary local authority leisure services management.