Urging providers to be creative, work smarter and enhance pricing and income generation to offset pressure on current subsidies is a consistent KKP line.

Following this, but taking a slightly different angle, this month David, issues a cautionary note to those that think simply going out to trust is the answer to their fiscal prayers.

Sport will undoubtedly, in some guise, be a casualty of the recently announced £6 billion cuts to "non-frontline" (read non-statutory) services in 2010/11. However, in the frenzied drive to cut costs, there is a need for realism...

In worst case scenarios, we provide hands on support for the fast track handover of a service from one operator to another. This can involve, for example, temporary transfer of staff to a holding company or securing support from a neighbouring authority for key contract elements. However, we prefer to give clients the right advice at the start of the process so that the chosen delivery model, at the right price, is the right one for them.

It is vital to ensure that your options appraisals is just that - and that you genuinely assess the right course of action for core service delivery. We assess current arrangements in terms of impact, effectiveness and efficiency, and benchmark services to assess value for money. Our standard service also includes detailed business planning modelling costs and revenue implications: KKP's advice is realistic and practical - but don't just take our word for it.

"...the approach that KKP adopts provides in-depth analysis of the options, leaving no stone unturned. They bring the added benefit of a real and practical understanding of our sector and key challenges. The comprehensive nature of their methods has given us the reassurance that the decisions we make in shaping the Council's vision for Leisure are based on solid research and evidence"... Mike Riley, Communities Manager, Rossendale Borough Council.

In Rossendale, the options appraisal was aimed at supporting the Council's wider remit to create a sustainable approach to its leisure provision over the coming years. In this instance, our work confirmed that the existing trust was delivering a successful service at core facilities and should continue to be commissioned to do so.

Conversely, we also support clients who have been on the receiving end of bad practice, picking up the pieces of collapsed trust models, poor delivery by private sector operators and unworkable hybrid arrangements. From supporting local authorities to extricate themselves from a poor contract to providing realistic evaluations of proposed partnerships; it is all about the balance between innovation and realism. When it comes to externalising your leisure service; if it looks too good to be true - it probably is!

Bernie Jones, Chief Executive of Trafford Community Leisure Trust comments, "Like all business sectors there are good and bad operators in leisure management. Irrespective of whether they are ‘in-house', private contractor or trust, and whilst there are examples of collapsed trust models and unworkable hybrids there are equally significant examples of private contractors going bust or poor performing in-house teams."

Bernie goes on to add that "Many trusts were originally set up with a view to reducing expenditure, primarily through NNDR and VAT savings. Whilst cost control is an essential element of trust operation, the more successful ones have achieved success not chiefly through cost savings but via increasing participation, throughput and revenue. The key difference between trusts and other operators is that every penny of additional surplus generated is ploughed back into the business to create further development...

...ensuring all parties get the right advice at the start of the process may not ensure that the trust is successful long term but it does give all partners a clear understanding of responsibilities and ensure that the right model is in place to ensure that the needs of the local community are at the forefront."