In the first event of its kind, representatives from Local Authorities, Trusts and management contractors united to discuss the 'improvement agenda' and exchange of views on the advantages of the different methods of leisure services delivery.

The day-long event, for representatives from the East of England, was organised by Leisure-net Solutions and supported by CLOA, ISRM, ISPAL and sporta. Mike Hill, Managing Director of Leisure-net Solutions said: "It is quite rare for the various deliverers of 'public sector' leisure to attend the same event and this led to a lively debate on how do we get better at what we do."

Mike McCardle, Executive Secretary of sporta, which represents more than 110 leisure trusts across the UK, said: "The content of the seminar was excellent and gave a balanced and informed view of the different options for the provision of leisure services in the public sector." The seminar also included a number of expert speakers, as well as workshops on 2012 in the Eastern Region and the implications of the Government's Free Swimming initiative, which threw up a number of reservations.

The workshop highlighted that some councils had responded positively to the initiative due to the offer of much needed capital funding, despite the fact it would be very low. All delegates reported significant shortfalls in the funding available and the estimated costs - none could envisage free swimming continuing after Government funding ceases. Many of the group believed there would be few 'new' swimmers and that the result would be existing swimmers attending more often and for free. Shortfalls highlighted in the initiative included learning to swim and that under 8s must be accompanied an adult, who would not necessarily be covered for free swimming.

The group said there must be clarity for leisure pools and also a decision on whether sessions can be limited, e.g. 45 minutes only and/or a limited number of free sessions per day/week. CLOA's Policy Officer, David Albutt, who chaired the Free Swimming workshop said: "Most delegates expressed concern about the initiative, not least that it had been announced in the national media a full month before local government had been consulted. In Wales both CLOA and local government had been involved from the start, which allowed many issues to be successfully managed. The lack of time to respond and the timing of the announcement in terms of the councils' budget cycles were key concerns."

The day was chaired by John Fuller, 2012 Olympics Manager for Hertfordshire County Council, who introduced the expert speakers, including consultant Brian King, who shed light on the latest twists and turns of the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) agenda. Sue Sutton, CEO of ISPAL, was joined on stage by Marc Newey, Chair of ISRM, to take questions around the chartered position that organisations' joint working group is examining.

Leisure-net Solutions will continue to work with the sector's professional organisations to run the seminar in other UK regions.