EPPING Forest Council has appointed a working policy group to review its objectives for leisure provision and consider bids for the future management of its swimming pools and sports centres.

The seven-member group will assess the type and range of leisure services that the community needs and attempt to establish a realistic budget for the services that could be sustained by the council.

It will consider whether tenders by several would-be contractors to run Loughton Leisure Centre, Waltham Abbey Pool, Epping Sports Centre, Waltham Abbey Sports Centre and Ongar Leisure Centre should be investigated further and will make recommendations on suitable contract periods.

Councillors will also examine how those leisure divisions which have not been suggested for tender, including community and culture, Epping Forest Arts, the museum services, North Weald Airfield and all associated support services, should be organised and provided.

Councillor Ann Haigh, who will be on the working group, said: "It does seem an absolutely vast scope of research.

"So it is very important that we prioritise which services we are going to look at in detail and concentrate our efforts on those."

The working group should initially report back to the overview and scrutiny committees in March, with the council's cabinet set to take a final decision on future provision of leisure services and facilities by June at the latest.