Agenda item

To note the verbal update.

The Director of Property, Assets and Infrastructure joined the meeting to provide an update on the office accommodation programme as Members had asked for an update on the council’s desk booking system at the previous meeting. Key points were as follows:

·       The desk booking system was part of a wider piece of work linked to the Property Programme which went to Cabinet for approval in June 2023.

·       The programme aims to reduce the number of buildings used for office space as well as looking at the disposal of vacant buildings to create savings.

·       A number of staff/teams based at 100 Temple Street were being moved to City Hall in order to explore a commercial let in the North side of the building. To enable the move, the team had reviewed the desk space at City Hall which was only reaching 35/40% capacity previously and as a result, the desk ratio per team had changed.

·       Phase one of the move would be taking place throughout July and a new booking system had been put in place.

·       There had been lots of engagement with teams prior to the move and there had been no challenges from staff to date, but the system would remain under review.

·       There would be no change to the Councillor area. 

·       It was noted that the Cash Hall was a useful space for ‘drop ins’ but shouldn’t be used for office space; This would continue to be a fluid space which was also not yet at capacity.

Members asked questions and discussion points were as follows:

·       Members raised concerns at the last meeting around desk booking that was previously managed by one person in the service on top of their existing workload, but this was not the case, it was the responsibility of managers. It was clarified that under an earlier system, the responsibility for desk booking was with the manager or a nominated deputy, and that this has since been changed so that each employee can book their own desk on a spreadsheet that could be accessed by all colleagues.

·       There are a number of unallocated spaces at City Hall so if colleagues need to drop in or come into the office at last minute then they would still be able to find a space to work. The building was not at capacity and there was no plan to change this flexible approach.

·       It was confirmed that the Create Centre was still in use, but some teams such as the Sustainability Team had recently moved to City Hall. The next phase of the programme would be locality hubs followed by a review of vacant buildings.

(Cllr Bailes left the meeting at this point)

·       There was a discussion around energy efficiency/usage in council buildings and Members were advised that a report on decarbonisation plans would be going to an upcoming Cabinet meeting. For any plans to dispose of a building/asset in future, there would also be a report to Cabinet.

·       It was noted that there was no allowance for colleagues working from home and the council had no plans to reintroduce this. Officers advised it would be difficult to confirm the percentage of employees that work from home as different teams have different usage requirements for office space, but it was noted that Tuesday-Thursday were generally the busier days in the office.

·       The Director of Property, Assets and Infrastructure would attend future meeting to update members on the progress of the office accommodation programme. PA Action.