DRAFT

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL ACCOMMODATION

REVIEW - PHASE III

1.        Summary

1.1      Since local government reorganisation in 1994 the Isle of Wight Council has undertaken two reviews of its main service accommodation. This report brings forward the third review of office accommodation, it considers future requirements and changing work practices, including I C T and makes recommendations based on the opportunity cost and value of existing assets.

1.2      With the Council’s new staff structure to be put in place on 1 April 2002, it is opportune to review office accommodation and challenge how office facilities can improve services within existing resources.

1.3      This report identifies where the Isle of Wight Council is now and questions where it needs to be in 10 years. The report makes some intermediate recommendations, it questions the future use of central offices, in particular County Hall, and challenges what accommodation needs to be retained or given up. Ideas are also proposed for re-use of capital and revenue.

2.        Purpose

2.1      The purpose of this report is to consolidate and plan Council accommodation whilst ensuring that the correct people are in the appropriate building to improve customer service through greater accessibility. Utilisation of the space is a key issue. To achieve this the following objectives are suggested:

           ∙          Rationalisation of space.

           ∙          Improved access to services, supported by e-government.

           ∙          The improved use of County Hall as a central hub.

           ∙          Reduced property running and maintenance costs.

           ∙          Improved staff facilities and workstations.

           ∙          Reduce transport costs and congestion.

2.2      The strategy involves the investigation of existing conditions and the examination of and consideration of the best uses for each site, particularly those away from the town centre. It has also been necessary to measure the capacity for each site for the intended purpose and, for those sites which are rented, whether more suitable alternative accommodation can be obtained elsewhere to improve long term efficiency.

2.3      In short, the strategy is to question the best utilisation of space in terms of financial and service returns.

3.        Accommodation Issues

3.1      The Council has some 860 work spaces across the Island each costing about £1,000 per annum, excluding a hypothetical or actual rent. Whilst accommodation is not overcrowded according to statutory guidelines, there are cramped working conditions with some poor quality buildings and a number of services may be inappropriately located for future service provision.

3.2      The maintenance backlog of the 12 main existing offices is in the region of £480,000, excluding the proposed improvements to The Guildhall.

3.3      Extensive consultations have been carried out across the Council and the following issues have been identified.

✦ not including rent or hypothetical rent

* indicates number of staff that will be located at the property

3.4      In terms of utilisation, many of the Council’s staff working practices involve a great deal of time out on site. Previous surveys of desk occupation have produced average figures, in some cases of approximately 32% of the working day. A desk utilisation survey carried out in January 2002 shows an average office occupation of approximately 62% of the working day with a range between 38% and 89%.

3.5      A possible route to improve the effective use of offices could be through flexible working practices being endorsed and encouraged further.

3.6      Encouraging such a change will require a big Council commitment to convert future running cost savings into I C T training and investment. For example, some authorities have set targets to rationalise space by 20%, ie a ratio of 5 people to 4 work stations. This represents potentially £160,000 per annum on the Island from, say, 150 workplaces. However, given set up costs of £1,200 to £1,400 per space elsewhere, it is difficult to estimate the on-going running costs of this element to the authority.

3.7      A fair observation at this time is that “many employees would enjoy the facility of working from home but also want to keep their own home at the office”.

3.8      Some rationalisation of space will be achieved by electronic document management systems, hot desking, redesign of existing offices and self service by customers. Current figures indicate that approximately 50% of families have internet access at home. Whilst this fits with the Government’s target for 100% electronic transfer of data by 2005, current I C T infrastructure needs a further substantial investment.

4.        Why Keep County Hall?

4.1      Before considering certain recommendations Members are being asked whether or not they wish to retain County Hall. There are at present 294 work stations at County Hall plus additional meeting, reception, Member and Council Chamber facilities. The building has approximately 5,053 square metres gross floor area on 5 floors, the site of County Hall, and an inner car park area of 3,540 square metres. When last analysed, County Hall costs below the average per square metre compared to other Council headquarters. To rebuild a facility of similar size elsewhere will cost in the region of £5 million based on £1,000 per square metre build cost. The market value of County Hall depends upon demand, the nature and detail of any alternative planning consent. Few local users or operators are likely to be interested in a building of such size in its present form and therefore redevelopment is probably the most profitable alternative. The site is not large enough for a retail superstore, although a smaller retail operation would be possible. The land value for such a scheme is likely to be in the region of £850,000 in the present market given the cost of site clearance. Alternatively, as a residential development site there is space for 50 to 60 residential units. As such the site value is in the region of £1,000,000, all subject to an appropriate planning consent being granted.

4.2      These figures confirm that County Hall’s existing use value far exceeds the opportunity cost of replacement elsewhere. County Hall should therefore be retained and is a possible site for future expansion, particularly with the existing benefits of I C T infrastructure, parking and location.

5.        Policy For County Hall and Other Offices

5.1      A single focal point allows for resources to be focussed in a single building and makes it unnecessary for the remaining offices to have reception facilities which often are unsuitable and take up significant areas. A central reception/call centre area can provide an efficient use of space and when properly staffed provides good cover when Officers are absent through holiday or sickness, etc. Many authorities have implemented one stop centres where highly trained members of staff are able to deal with the vast majority of initial enquiries and this has lead to a separation of “back office” and “front office” staff. The front office staff deal directly with the customer with the back office staff undertaking the day to day functions. Space would need to be created at County Hall where all telephone calls would be dealt with. A single telephone number would be necessary. The provision of a central call centre with back up support from back office staff elsewhere but supported by flexible I C T equipment and accommodation would reduce the dependence upon existing buildings and increase opportunities for flexible working. The target of five persons per four workstations could be set and surplus space identified for disposal. There will be a concentration on quality accommodation suitable for modern working practices and equipment funded by the disposal of surplus assets.

5.2      Newport is centrally situated and County Hall is a landmark building which the majority of the local population can easily locate. It is close to bus routes, public parking and the local main roads. The building has a very welcoming Customer Service reception and presently deals with the public on a variety of matters, but in particular with enquiries relating to births, marriages and deaths and revenue payments. There are at present 294 work stations at County Hall and 19 meeting rooms, including the Members Suites, the Council Chamber and Support Services. County Hall is therefore the most suitable building and location to deliver a central hub for services. The Customer Service area will need to be altered in order to accommodate the increased services provided, including Car Parks, Payments and general enquiries. Consideration should also be given to relocating both Education and Payments receptions to the Customer Service area. Equally, in order to reduce numbers of the public/visitors moving around the building and to improve accessibility, consideration should be given to relocating Committee Room 1 to the ground floor of County Hall.

5.3      Given the central hub proposal, the question posed is whether or not services providing direct customer contact should be located or represented at County Hall.

5.4      A number of the existing occupiers of County Hall provide little or no direct service to the public and could be relocated elsewhere. Some services whilst providing only a limited direct service to the public are in continual contact with Members and there could also be a benefit to such services being retained at County Hall.

5.5      By creating a central hub at County Hall staffed by front office staff of individual sections, existing teams may need to be broken up and this will need to be managed carefully.

5.6      If this philosophy is agreed then a guide needs to be given as to those sections that should be located or represented at County Hall and the following criteria is proposed.

Does the service have regular:

           ∙          Contact with the public?

           ∙          Contact with Members?

           ∙          Reception and meeting area requirements?

           ∙          Support from services, such as Word Processing, Committee Services and Select Support?

6.        Policy Recommendations for Council Offices

6.1      The objectives listed under item 2.1 above provide the basis from which decisions are made for the Council’s accommodation. Rationalisation of space should initially identify those expensive leasehold properties which can be surrendered and services located elsewhere such as Bugle House (annual building cost £60,000) and sites with redevelopment potential such as St Nicholas House. In meeting the objectives and criteria outlined above, this will put in place a strategy for the next 10 years to build on. With a view to starting this process a number of initial recommendations are being proposed for consideration.

6.2      The IT Management and Software Development Team are located at County Hall where the authority’s I C T server farm is currently located. Strategically, the server farm must be at County Hall or close by and requires increased space now. The I C T team should also be brought together in one location at or near County Hall. Suitable accommodation is currently being sourced for the I C T Department within close proximity of County Hall.

6.3      The Coastal Protection Team should be moved from the fourth floor at County Hall to Salisbury Gardens in Ventnor, where the team can be located in one building which is currently under utilised. Consideration shall also be given to relocation of Ventnor TIC, also to Salisbury Gardens, enabling the provision of all year round cover and increased visitor numbers to the exhibitions held at Salisbury Gardens. Once the existing TIC property is surplus, it can be disposed of.

6.4      The Library Headquarters at Parkhurst is beyond its useful life and has in principle been declared surplus and needs to be replaced. Two options have emerged for an alternative building at Somerton or Newport and these are being actively appraised in consultation with colleagues.

6.5      Wight Leisure should be moved from offices in Quay Street to the Westridge Centre to take up under used capacity and help enable through investment the much needed improvement to I C T for Tourism. There is a clear synergy with Tourism who would remain at Westridge. It is recommended that 17 Quay Street be declared surplus to requirements and disposed of.

6.6      The Museum Workshop Team should be moved to Cothey Bottom from Quay House into accommodation much more suited to service provision requirements. The future of Quay House is to be reviewed in the light of the planning brief currently being prepared for the Newport Harbour area.

6.7      Bugle House is a relatively high cost building to occupy and provides access difficulties, particularly for those with mobility problems. Consideration should be given to surrendering the lease when it expires in 2006. Bugle House currently houses the Wightcare CCTV facility which is expanding and in need of larger premises. This facility often employs those with mobility problems and therefore modern or ground floor space is required. Due to the potentially high cost of moving, estimated to be in the region of £100,000 to £120,000, the new location should be owned by the authority, be in a suitable location with good 24 hour access. At present the only building suitable for this use with the potential to create the space is County Hall.

6.8      Given the acceptance of the proposal to surrender Bugle House, then there will be a need to locate the Training Centre to suitable premises. The recommendation is that Training be centred at Northwood House on terms to be agreed with the new Trust.

6.9      The Jubilee Stores offices are fully occupied by various sections of Highways and Transportation. A significant number of public enquiries directed to Jubilee Stores are about public car parks, many having been re-directed from County Hall. The proposal is to relocate the Car Parks Section into County Hall and for the Traffic Education Team to transfer to Jubilee Stores from the site at Shide. The Car Parks Section will require suitable space within the Customer Service area. Jubilee Stores will require a general meeting room for the Highways Section to operate properly. The Shide site will then be surplus, although it has been identified as the preferred site for a new fire station.

6.10    The Sea close offices are approaching capacity, although this is due in part to the large amount of storage and lack of alternative arrangements. Consideration has been given to the moving of Development Control to County Hall, however the current arrangement and the synergy with other Officers within Sea close works well and public access to Sea close is good. The Planning Control files are an ideal candidate for document image processing and this has been agreed and is subject to a programme being worked up. Given the progress of computerised data, good I C T links, a significant number of professional and technical Officers on a site with an open plan environment, Sea close Offices provide an ideal opportunity for the Council to trial large scale flexible working arrangements. If this is agreed then significant I C T investment will be needed. In the past plans have been provided for an extension to the existing Sea close offices of similar size. A new building of approximately 1,000 square metres is likely to cost in the region of £1m.

6.11    The Guildhall is not a modern purpose built building but the occupation by Community Development generally works well with only limited public access required to offices. The proposal is to build on the complimentary use with Tourism and bring into use the first floor exhibition areas for permanent and temporary displays open to the public and for use by other organisations. This would be subject to grant funding towards the structural alterations.

6.12    The Stores at Forest Road are poor quality buildings suffering from structural movement which is uneconomic to repair. These facilities are recommended for rationalisation, whether through a merger or relocation to a better quality building. The Council has long been looking to identify a suitable site for the Wight Bus Fleet to an edge of Newport location, and this site should be considered for that purpose.

6.13    St Nicholas House currently provides good, well serviced office accommodation, perhaps most suited to supporting services that require less public interface. In the future, probably more than 5 years, given that the surrender of Bugle House is achieved, then St Nicholas House should be considered as a second stage rationalisation. Given the appropriate opportunity arising, the site consideration could be the subject of a disposal. At this time the existing use value of St Nicholas House far exceeds its alternative value. As such it is recommended that the site be maintained as a major accommodation resource for the time being.

6.14    Public Records at Hillside - Whilst this service is just able to maintain its operation, the site is an inadequate facility to fulfill the full potential of this service. Investigations are on-going to find opportunities to improve this position.

6.15    The Social Services Headquarters at Fairlee Road is also occupied to capacity with some elements in temporary accommodation. Given the criteria for County Hall above, parts of Social Services could relocate to County Hall. However, Social Services is already working closely with the Hospital Trust and the Primary Care Group to deliver planned changes in health and social service provision through the Partnership in Action Programme and further work has yet to come forward in this respect. Pending these details becoming clearer, the Council is being asked to note the present situation on the basis that recommendations have yet to be formulated.

6.16    The Clatterford Centre is a suitable site for the Archaeology Centre at present, although should better premises become available consideration should be given to relocation.

6.17    The accommodation used by Housing and Revenues has been dealt with in earlier reviews, was considered to be suitable and will therefore remain unchanged.

6.18    The review of office accommodation will be an on-going issue and dependent not least upon the pace of change of I C T and working practices. Changes will also be service lead and the incidence of various issues, not least Health and Safety, Disability Discrimination, office space standards, Unison consultation, Agenda 21 and efficiency impact liabilities upon the occupation of public assets.

7.        Finance

7.1      For the purpose of initial guidance and overall consideration as to the scale of resources being evaluated, the following initial summary of costs has been produced. As this paper aims to establish future working principles and guidance from the Council, this is not intended to provide absolute financial guidance but is a signal as to the scale of resources available. The intention is that total resources shall be ring fenced on an overall back to back basis with both final capital and revenue allocation to at least balance or provide an overall saving to the authority as a corporate body, ie all capital receipts and revenue savings used to fund the recommended moves subject to any extraordinary windfall gain being allocated to the central pot.

8.        Conclusion

8.1      It is likely that existing I C T staff resources may not be sufficient to achieve these changes. Large scale moving of sections may involve additional resources being bought in to achieve these aims on a contract basis to carry out the project management, procurement and implementation of the I C T resources associated with the moves.

8.2      The I C T infrastructure is deficient in a number of buildings because the existing network band width is inadequate. For example, the band width to The Guildhall and 17 Quay Street from County Hall is 1% of that to Sea close. Some proposed sites such as Quay House and Northwood House have no infrastructure or connectivity at present.

8.2      Considerable upgrading will need to take place of I C T remote sites which may include 24 hour, 7 days a week swipe card access, air conditioning, fire alarm circuits and dedicated power supplies at a number of locations.

8.3      If a programme of moves was carried out then existing allocation/replacement of PC’s schedule would need reviewing. Directorates would need to be advised and consulted.

8.4      Wholesale movements in and out of County Hall are possible in number terms although this would put a huge strain on existing human resources and may mean additional services being bought in.

8.5      The development of a call centre within County Hall with a single telephone number for public access will involve further training of a select group of staff able to answer the majority of first line questions from the public. This may involve the break up of existing teams although may encourage more flexible working amongst remaining colleagues.

8.6      This report does not intend to provide every answer but does offer an insight into the issues and options. It should be a platform to provide improved services through a central location where the majority of enquiries can be satisfactorily dealt with. It should also be used as a guidance to future flexible working requirements across the authority.

8.7      The review is to run in parallel with the Capital Programme and consideration will be given at all times to those priorities.

9.        Principle Recommendations

9.1      That the proposed moves and objectives outlined in this paper are agreed.

           ∙          Relocation of Wight Leisure to Westridge.

           ∙          Disposal of 17 Quay Street.

           ∙          Creation of a central hub at County Hall.

           ∙          Confirm criteria for those to be located at County Hall.

           ∙          Coastal Management Centre to relocate to Salisbury Garden, Ventnor.

           ∙          Relocation of Library Headquarters.

           ∙          Museums Workshop Team to Cothey Bottom.

           ∙          Car Parks/Traffic Education Centre move.

9.2      That County Hall should be retained as the primary hub for local government on the Island and that the future occupation of County Hall should be set in accordance with the agreed criteria.

9.3      That the Council will look to surrender the Lease of Bugle House in 2006 and relocate services elsewhere as identified in the report.

9.4      That in the long term the Council will review the need to retain St Nicholas House but keep the same as major office accommodation for the time being.

9.5      That the Council will explore a large project of flexible working and that this be trialed at the Sea close Offices.

9.6      That a detailed financial appraisal of these recommendations will come back to the Council for consideration on the basis that resources are ring fenced as set out in the report.

10.      Additional Information

           ∙          Accommodation Review 1 and 2.

           ∙          Conditional Surveys for Assets.

           ∙          Government targets and e-government.

           ∙          Asset Management Plan.

           ∙          Service Plans.

           ∙          Disability Discrimination Act.

           ∙          Office Shop and Railway Premises Act.

           ∙          Health and Safety Guidance.

29 April 2002

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