Decision details

Office Accommodation

Decision status: Item Deferred

Is Key decision?: No

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Decisions:

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management submitted a report which presented the business case produced by EC Harris for the rationalisation of the Council’s office accommodation. It identified related issues that required further consideration and sought guidance from Members on the preferred way forward.

 

Any of the 5 options beyond the `do minimum’ option would deliver savings and operational efficiencies. Option 3 was recommended as being the most economically advantageous solution. This option would deliver discounted average revenue savings to the Council (compared with `do minimum’) in excess of £800,000 per annum over the model period of 25 years, plus further as yet unquantified savings. These savings were dependent upon stated assumptions in the report, including a 10% reduction in staff numbers.

 

EC Harris recommended that, because three of the modelled options were so closely ranked, further work should be done to confirm Option 3 as the agreed way forward. Once a preferred option was confirmed further detailed work would be undertaken to develop a final business case as the project moved forward. Separate detailed work was also required to address the related and building-specific issues outlined in the report so that the maximum advantage was taken of opportunities arising from the rationalisation project.

 

Having circulated an amended recommendation to the Cabinet, it was then moved by Councillor Holbrook, seconded by Councillor Green and –

 

Resolved – That,

 

(1) Cabinet welcomes the report and supports the need to deliver greater efficiency and value from its use of office space and so deliver better services to the public, and provide a positive working environment for staff;

 

(2) Cabinet agrees to provide in principle support to option 3 as set out in the report, but recognises that there is still further work to be done to refine the alternatives within this option. Cabinet therefore instructs officers to:

 

  (i)  As a matter of priority, bring forward a fully costed action plan to implement those aspects of option 3 that are not dependent on new build. The action plan to be presented to Cabinet for approval at the earliest opportunity.

 

  (ii)  Further investigate those aspects of option 3 that require new build along with Acre Lane, and to produce an options report for Cabinet to consider.

 

 (iii)  Refer the EC Harris report to the Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee for their consideration.

Publication date: 02/07/2010

Date of decision: 24/06/2010

Decided at meeting: 24/06/2010 - Cabinet

Effective from: 10/07/2010

Accompanying Documents: