Decision details

The Cabinet Member for Finance presented a report on the proposed rationalisation of the corporate office portfolio as part of the Council’s budget saving and Flexible Ways of Working programmes.

The Cabinet Member referred to the long-list of 11 options at Appendix 1 to the report and advised that a short-list of five was established based on the following criteria:

·  contributes to achieving the Council's objectives;

·  generates financial savings and minimises borrowing;

·  enhances and protects the community's civic heritage;

·  increases efficiency by reducing officer time in moving between buildings for meetings within the borough and throughout London;

·  enables more integrated working across service areas through the co-location of staff spatially centralised and co-ordinated open plan offices.

From the short-list, the preferred option based on the assessment criteria was Option 4c, which involved the retention and open plan of Barking Town Hall; the retention of Pondfield House; the conversion of Dagenham Civic Centre to secondary school use; the disposal of Roycraft House to Agilisys with leaseback of two floors for Council office use; and the disposal / redevelop of Frizlands Offices and John Smith House as offices / residential use.  The Cabinet Member explained that the preferred option included a desk ratio of 5.5 for every 10 staff which was challenging but, overall, represented the best financial option for the Council.

The Leader advised that the preferred option would retain the Civic Centre as a public building and discussions were ongoing regarding its use for secondary education.  The Leader acknowledged the Civic Centre as an historic and culturally important building but added that in the current financial climate he felt that protecting jobs and providing services were a greater priority. 

Cabinet Members stressed the importance of effective project management and the need to keep all Members of the Council fully informed and up-to-date with developments as the scheme progressed.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve Option 4c (retain and open plan Barking Town Hall; retain Pondfield House; convert Dagenham Civic Centre to secondary school use; dispose of Roycraft House to Agilisys with leaseback of two floors for Council office use; dispose / redevelop Frizlands Offices and John Smith House as offices / residential use) as the recommended option to rationalise the Council's office portfolio and help increase operational efficiency to support the implementation of Flexible Ways of Working;

(ii)  Approve the borrowing of £4.31m from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) to fund the capital expenditure required to implement Option 4c as set out in the report;

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, the Chief Finance Officer and the Cabinet Members for Finance and Regeneration, to negotiate terms and agree the contract documents to fully implement and effect the projects; and

(iv)  Authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, or an authorised delegate on her behalf, to execute all of the legal agreements, contracts and other documents on behalf of the Council.