NEW HOME FOR CITY COUNCIL

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Derby City Council has announced a possible U-turn over its proposal to relocate its headquarters. Cabinet members have been asked to consider staying at the Council House, on Corporation Street, with a view to it being revamped at a cost of £40m. The council said it would require less floor space following the announcement of nearly 500 job cuts. It said refurbishing and extending the existing building would be more cost effective than moving to a new home. The council has received bids from three short-listed bidders to build bigger premises but said by the time the construction was completed there would be fewer staff.

Officers at the council said the new option of refurbishment combined with an extension was the most economic. Chief Executive Adam Wilkinson said, "We'd explored the refurbishment and conversion previously. What we hadn't done is consider an extension because it would have to be too large, but with the reduction of staff numbers an extension is now feasible. We're looking at a complete internal refurbishment of the building, open planning to create more space and a four-storey extension within the inner courtyard." (Source: BBC News, Nov/09)

Derby City Council is about the embark on one of its biggest-ever changes in working practices. It will involve spending £20m on refurbishing the Council House, in Corporation Street, clearing a backlog of maintenance work on the authority's buildings around the city totalling £14m, selling off office space in St Mary's Gate and buying separate space elsewhere in the city. But the practicalities of what that means for staff is more extreme. Internal walls in the Council House will be ripped down and its maze of dated, institution-like corridors opened up. The warren of small offices, each with its individual printer, fridge, kettle, water-cooler and vacant desks ,will be transformed into large, open-plan rooms where staff will share equipment.

Gordon Stirling, head of change management, performance and research at the council, said, "It is about being flexible in the way we work, which will also allow us to adapt in the future as the demands on the council change. It will involve a change in culture in the way people work and we will be supporting staff through that change." This sort of planning and the change in layout means the Council House will be able to accommodate 30% more staff. It will also see the current 550 desks increased to 780 but, through sharing and changing the way they work, the Council House will be able to accommodate at least 1,014 staff.

That, in turn, will enable the authority to sell off costly, ageing buildings elsewhere in the city, such as Middleton House, in St Mary's Gate, where the children and young people's services departments is currently located. That will save on repair and maintenance bills of around £3m alone. New windows, heating systems and insulation will also enable the Council House to be more energy-efficient, saving a further £1m. To accommodate the staff who will not be able to fit into the Council House, the authority plans to buy other city centre office space.

Councillor Mike Carr, cabinet member for direct and internal services, said, "We have not decided where the space will be but we will have to look at that in the coming months." While the costs seem extreme, the council is confident the savings will add up. The average cost of a desk space, taking into account heating, electricity, lighting and other overheads, is £6,422 per year and, by sharing desks the council said it could save a further £1.5m a year. The first phase will include putting around 200 staff from one wing of the Council House into temporary accommodation, yet to be chosen, elsewhere in the city.

Refurbishment of the wing could take about six months, after which about 350 to 400 staff from elsewhere in the Council House will be moved into the finished wing and the process of refurbishment will start again. With five phases of work, the process could take three years to complete. But residents are being reassured that the last phase to be changed will be the Derby Direct and that the main reception will continue to operate while its replacement is created, so customers are not affected. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Aug/08)

Council deputy leader Philip Hickson said, "It's a big step to take, but looking at options to build new offices to meet future needs is the only way forward. It will bring people together from across the various sites across the city, give us much more flexibility, and give better service to the people of Derby." Previously, he has said that the Council House could be sold and converted into flats. Councillor Chris Williamson, Labour group leader, said, "My favoured location would be the Becket Well area. It's the most central and it would do the most to regenerate the city centre."

The council is now considering whether to relocate all of its city offices to the former Duckworth Square site at a cost of £40m. Officials say new purpose-built offices would be better suited to the council's needs than the present cramped and outdated premises. Mr Hickson, said the Becketwell site was readily available, the right size and the move would bring money back into the area. It's convenient for the council that the previous plans for Duckworth Square fell through shortly after it expressed an interest in the site.

Three city centre sites have been shortlisted as the location for a potential new Council House. The three sites involved are the former police and magistrates court in Full Street, Heritage Gate and the Riverlights development. The companies behind each site are to be asked to submit proposals to provide either a large office building to be the council's new headquarters in place of the present one, or a smaller building to complement a refurbished Council House.

Councillor Mike Carr, cabinet member for direct and internal services said, "This will be good for the council and the city because it will stimulate the construction industry, give a sign the city is still moving forward and will also provide jobs." He said the overriding criteria which had influenced decision-making over the shortlist was whether or not the site was owned by the developer and that was why the Becketwell area, widely thought of as a key regeneration site, was not included.

He added, "Site ownership was key. I would have liked to do something with the former Debenhams site in Becketwell but although various developers put forward options, they didn't own the site. It is a high risk to develop proposals on the basis the developer could get hold of the building when we, as a council, have tried ownership ourselves and not secured it in the past." Another site which failed to make the shortlist was the Norseman Investments proposed development in Traffic Street. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, May/09)

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