Cabinet Member for Assets and Investments
Decision:
It was RESOLVED: -
1.1 That the Cabinet agreed to reduce and reconfigure the floorspace demised to the Councils within Endeavour House in accordance with this report
1.2 That the Cabinet delegated authority to the Assistant Director of Assets & Investments to deliver the reconfiguration of the floorspace including finalising the detailed design, the appointment of contractors and suppliers and completing negotiations with the landlords.
REASON FOR DECISION
To create a fit for purpose workspace at Endeavour House to reinforce our organisational culture, enable collaboration, networking and learning whilst promoting well-being and supporting the delivery of effective and efficient services for residents.
To deliver financial savings over the term of the original lease period.
To enable the timely, efficient, and effective delivery of the project.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
2.1 Option 1: Do nothing: retain the current office accommodation and layout within Endeavour House. This is not a viable option as working practises have changed significantly since the pandemic and demand for traditional desk spaces in an office environment has reduced, whilst demand for space to collaborate with colleagues has increased. Doing nothing would fail to align with the adopted SAMP principles to ensure that our properties are well used, collaborative spaces that offer good value for money.
2.2 Option 2: Relocate to alternative premises. Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils jointly relocated to Endeavour House in 2017 and committed to 10-year leases with break options at the fifth year. Endeavour House continues to offer BMSDC high quality office accommodation and our occupation aligns with all the principles of the SAMP. At Endeavour House we share accommodation and services with partner organisations such as Suffolk County Council, who for example deliver IT services to BMSDC but co-location also helps to support partnership working across the public sector. Endeavour House is well-located with easy access to public transport and has good communal facilities such as a canteen, café and informal meeting spaces which have helped to attract and retain staff. Relocating to other premises at this time is not viable. There are very few buildings across the County that would be able to provide shared services and spaces similar to those we use at Endeavour House and as such it is likely that relocating would increase our space requirements and costs.
2.3 Option 3: Become fully digital Councils without a Headquarters building. Whilst working practises and technology have changed significantly there is still a need for in-person meetings from a legal perspective, such as full Council meetings and planning committees but also from a practical perspective to support our people who are unable to safely work remotely and to support collaborative work and training across teams, service areas and organisations. This is therefore not a viable option.
2.4 Option 4: Reconfigure accommodation within Endeavour House to meet changing working practices. Endeavour House is well located to meet organisational needs however over the last 2 years our use of office accommodation has changed significantly with more people working remotely and growing demand for collaboration spaces when people do attend Endeavour House. Our existing office accommodation could be reconfigured to deliver the desk and collaboration spaces needed by the Councils within 1 floorplate enabling the remaining floor plate to be returned to the landlords by instigating the break clause in March 2022. This option will deliver a creative and efficient workspace with increased opportunities to collaborate, align with the principles of SAMP as well as offering financial savings.
Any Declarations of Interests Declared: None
Any Dispensation Granted: None
Minutes:
84.1 Councillor Busby introduced the report and highlighted the benefits of reducing the floor space in Endeavour House and delivering the most suitable workspace for officers to work in.
84.2 Councillor Busby proposed the recommendations in the report, which was seconded by Councillor Ward.
84.3 In response to a question from Councillor Barrett, the Cabinet Member for Assets and Investments referred to the concept design plan attached in appendix A.
84.4 Councillor Holt expressed his concern in relation to the Strategy including that staff had not been involved enough in the preparation of the proposed workspace, that there were not enough desks, the impact on staff wellbeing when working from home and that he thought this decision should have gone to full Council for debate. In response The Assistant Director for Assets and Investments detailed the results from the staff survey, in which 70% of the response received were in favour of coming into work at Endeavour House for between one to three days per week. The workspace design encouraged officers to come into the office to work both at workstations and in the collaborative workspaces. In addition to the Gold floor plate space, Members and officers would maintain the current access to other spaces in the building.
84.5 Councillor Ward stated that the floor plate would be used in a far more efficiently way for officers to work in and that the requirements outlined in the report were evidence based.
84.6 Councillor McCraw was concerned with the speed of the decision and the timeline for the implementation of the strategy and that this was caused by the September date for the break clause in the lease. He queried whether it would be possible to take the report to Council for debate. The Assistant Director for Assets and Investments outlined the timings for the Strategy and explained that work for the Strategy had commenced at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic in 2020.
84.7 The Monitoring Officer advised Cabinet that this was an executive decision for Cabinet and could not be referred to Council for discussion.
84.8 In response to questions relating to working arrangement for officers, the Chief Executive advised Members that officers had always been encouraged to work in the District.
84.9 Councillor Osborne asked for clarification on the number of desks allocated for officers working three days in Endeavour House. The Assistant Director responded that the data had been extrapolated from the staff survey, producing the result of 48 fixed desks in addition to the collaboration and meeting spaces as a blended figure of the data.
84.10 The Assistant Director for Assets and Investments continued to respond to questions from Members including the minimum number of working days required by officers to be in Endeavour House, the number of desks required to accommodate this, new ways of working in a collaborative way and how Councillors would use the proposed workspace.
Note: A break was taken between 4:10pm and 4:22pm.
84.11 In response to other Members attending the meeting in relation to what arrangements were put in place if the proposed new way of working was not working, the Assistant Director for Assets and Investment responded that the concept design was a response to the way the Council was currently working and that there was a degree of flexibility for the layout of the concept plan and for furniture arrangements.
84.12 Members debated the issues and other Members attending the meeting outlined some of the concerns around working from home and hybrid working and the emotional impact on staff working under these circumstances.
84.13 In response to Members debating the location of Babergh Council offices, the Cabinet Member for Assets and Investments stated that the location of Council offices in Endeavour House enabled the Council to get a better level of staff, and that this was helped by the offer of agile working and the modern workspace and facilities. In addition, Ipswich was easy to access, and the Council needed to move forward with times. Officers might be working in Endeavour House however, the services the Council provided were continued to be delivered in the District.
84.14 Councillor Malvisi stated that she thought that the issues should be debated by all Members, and she was concerned about where officers would be for Members to contact them.
It was RESOLVED:-
1.1 That the Cabinet agrees to reduce and reconfigure the floorspace demised to the Councils within Endeavour House in accordance with this report
1.2 That the Cabinet delegates authority to the Assistant Director of Assets & Investments to deliver the reconfiguration of the floorspace including finalising the detailed design, the appointment of contractors and suppliers and completing negotiations with the landlords.
REASON FOR DECISION
To create a fit for purpose workspace at Endeavour House to reinforce our organisational culture, enable collaboration, networking and learning whilst promoting well-being and supporting the delivery of effective and efficient services for residents.
To deliver financial savings over the term of the original lease period.
To enable the timely, efficient, and effective delivery of the project.
Supporting documents: