Agenda item

To note the progress on the Council’s Accommodation Programme.

The Director for Strategy, Delivery and Performance, L Wade, introduced the report on the ongoing Accommodation Project. The committee noted that the Accommodation Programme Board continued to meet monthly to oversee the delivery of the programme and covered the following workstreams:

1. Refurbishment works
2. Infrastructure and Technology
3. Travel Plan
4. Furniture, fixtures and fittings
5. Change & Ways of Working
6. Partners and Commercial opportunities
7. Customer Service Workstream

The refurbishment works were going well and the AV design specification had been progressed; the appendix to the report included photos of the types of new technology that they hoped to incorporate into the new offices. Discussions had progressed on the Travel Plans with the newly appointed Sustainable Transport Officer where they were exploring sustainable options for travel to the office as part of the wider sustainable transport project and the use of DRT (Demand Responsive Transport).

Officers were currently reviewing the space requirements in light of the flexible working and use of the building. The requirements for furniture and fittings were at the final stage of design.  The result would be an open and modern environment retaining and showcasing the listed features of the Civic. The final review would happen in the coming few weeks.

The programme was not just about the offices but delivering a new way of working, the employees continued to embrace remote working. As for the space in the building the Council have had some positive interest in the use of the building and initial discussions were looking positive.

And finally, as from the Programme Board meeting in September, the contract sum was within the agreed 2020/21 budget approved at Full Council.

Councillor Neville asked if the proposed travel plan report going to the December Cabinet would be shared with councillors in advance of this. He was told that it would hopefully be shared by mid-November.

Councillor Rackham asked if the travel plan would be subject to change at short notice if employees decided they wanted to work from home. She was told that for the most part employees were looking to work more flexibly from home and officers were beginning to understand how they could best utilise the spaces they had.

Councillor Jon Whitehouse said it was a shame that the travel plan had slipped. Could officers say which problem this plan was the solution to. Was it so that officers could park elsewhere and then summon demand responsive transport to the offices or was it a service from home to the civic offices? L Wade said that at this stage is was as an alternative mode of transport, they were still trying to understand the coverage of this and part of the understanding of the scope of the replacement of the 87 bus. Based on this they would see what the needs of the employees were.

Councillor Jon Whitehouse then went on to query the commercialisation of the building space, would we market the conference suite as well. He was told this did not feature at present, but it was something that we would look at in the future.

Councillor Bassett as Chairman of Community Transport confirmed that they have had several discussions with the Council this was for transport for local people or pick people from the transport hubs such as tube stations and bring them on from there. This had proved successful in the Harlow area and they were looking to bring it to Epping Forest. It’s a reasonably cost effective solution.

Councillor Murray understood that there was a need to work from home at present, but he hoped they had not lost sight of collaborative working. Nationally, younger members of staff felt that they are losing out by working like this. He went on to ask where could he find the original budget for this accommodation project and the agreed variances*; and what was the current expenditure? Also, could he have a list of our partners who would be joining us. He added that as a trustee of the CAB he knew that it was not financially viable for them to occupy an office in our new building. L Wade replied that collaborative office space was a big part of the design for the civic offices. They also recognised that they needed to consider every employee needs especially junior staff and new entrants and to this end we had established virtual networks for new staff. As for the first part of the question, she could include the costs as part of the minutes, and she would check if it was possible to include the names of our potential partners in the Civic Offices. Councillor Murray said that he was particularly interested the community groups and not the commercial organisations.

*Post meeting update: against the refurbishment budget approved at the 1^st June Cabinet, the current numbers were as follows:

Budget - £6,875,000;

Current Spend to date - £2,008,957;

Forecast spend - £6,783,184; and

Positive Variance - £91,816.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the progress on the Accommodation Programme.