Agenda item

To receive the third report in the Board’s inquiry into agile working, developing new ways of working and estate realisation. On this occasion from the Director of City Development looking at how the Council has adapted to Covid-19, how the pandemic has accelerated existing trends around new ways of working and changes to how services are delivered and from which buildings and facilities.

The report of the Director of City Development provided the third report in the Board’s inquiry into agile working, developing new ways of working and estate realisation. On this occasion the report of the Director of City Development looked at how the Council has adapted to Covid-19, how the pandemic has accelerated existing trends around new ways of working and changes to how services are delivered and from which buildings and facilities.

It attendance at the meeting for this item were:

·  Cllr. James Lewis – Deputy Leader of Council and Executive Member for Resources

·  Neil Evans – Director of Resources and Housing

·  Angela Barnicle - Chief Officer Asset Management & Regeneration

·  Mark Mills – Asset Management

·  Graham Sephton – Head of HR, Resources and Housing

Members were provided with the following information:

• This is the third report to the Board on agile working and it is a constantly evolving process;
• Prior to the pandemic the Change in the Workplace programme had been looking at a rationalisation of the Councils estate, as some of the Councils buildings were under-utilised. At the start of the pandemic the Council had 200 key buildings of these 80 were closed due to covid restrictions. Some of the buildings have now re-opened after being made Covid secure to allow officers back in, albeit with limited capacity to restart some services which had closed. In offices which have been re-opened there has been a reduction of 1,000 desks;
• From the staff surveys undertaken the vast majority of staff indicated that they would wish to work from home on a more permanent basis either full time or utilising a more mixed approach base around some time working at home and some in the office. This has meant a rapid re-adjustment of how we may use buildings in future for meetings and collaboration working, a key concept being the team as the destination as opposed to the building;
• The key principles and drivers for future working is how services are provided and the financial challenge that the Council is currently facing. There is also a need to address the Climate Emergency Agenda reducing carbon, using the estate more effectively and appropriately and how that impact son staff travel to and from work;
• Teams want to come together for collaborative working and there will be a requirement for buildings to have a variety of spaces available not just office space, and this will also require different furniture and layouts;
• The review of the estate has also considered geographic choices, trying to reduce the commute, also the work travel around the city to meetings or appointments with customers. This may look at utilising different buildings such as community hubs, and museums as drop-in centres;
• To enable staff to work more flexibly there would be a requirement to work more deliberately by booking desks and spaces, this is currently being worked on by DIS and has been used successfully throughout the pandemic;
• Asset Management, HR and DIS are working together on this constantly evolving process, focussing on where investment is need to upgrade and provide suitable working spaces for the future. To do this data on the estate is key.

Member’s discussions included:

• The right balance of home and office based working;
• Utilisation of buildings not only in the city centre but also in the district centres with a view to getting the high street and the economy going outside of the city centre;
• Recognition that the disposal of buildings would not have a negative impact on the climate emergency agenda;
• Financial sustainability of the estate for the future, including making the buildings fit for purpose with the right spaces and furniture, use of technology and analysis of how hybrid meetings may be used going forward;
• Members noted that Appendix 2 listed the capacity of those buildings proposed to be retained;
• Use of those buildings which are classed as sensitive with a view to re-purposing them, offering space to partner organisations. It was recognised that each building would need to be assessed on an individual basis;
• Member’s views were that community hubs were an important part of the estate and should be reviewed to look at ways in which services could be provided from them in the future which in turn could benefit local district and town centres.

Members requested figures for desk based roles of those who took the Early Leavers Initiative (ELI).

RESOLVED – To note the content of the report.