Decision details

Cabinet will be asked to approve the programme of work required to deliver the Moving Closer to Residents business case and introduce new ways of working across the council, including the location of the new Civic Heart in the context of the future corporate estate.

RESOLVED:

1.    That a detailed Workforce Strategy be developed by February 2020.

2.    That officers continue to drive and support a new working culture across the council through increasing the number of staff being enabled to work in new and agile ways, including through investment in Information Technology and training.

3.    That demonstration exemplar agile office spaces be created in County Hall and in each of the Council’s office hubs (Quadrant Court in Woking, Consort House in Redhill and Fairmount House in Leatherhead) by January 2020.

4.    That measures be put in place to consolidate staff into a smaller area of County Hall, creating a ‘Civic Heart’ cohort (e.g. those working most closely with democratic and civic functions of the council) over time.

5.    That officers continue to plan the relocation of staff from County Hall, as:

·         Those staff in County Hall forming the Civic Heart cohort will be brought together in County Hall

·         Demonstration/exemplar agile office environments will be set up in County Hall and each Hub by Jan 2020

·         500 more County Hall staff will be equipped to be agile and allocated to new base offices by June 2020

·         Contact Centre and Orbis services staff will be either agile or in new locations by December 2020

·         Civic Heart cohort of staff to be agile/relocated when we have found suitable premises (meaning County Hall is vacant)

·         Discussions will continue with the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames on the potential future of County Hall.

6.    That officers continue the search for a new ‘Civic Heart’ to house the remainder of the staff in suitable, viable and affordable premises.

Reason for decision:

The Community Vision for Surrey in 2030 and the council’s own Organisational Strategy envisage a quite different and much improved relationship and connectivity between residents and the council and new, modern ways of working for the council. The widespread introduction of agile working for most staff, creating the opportunity to vacate County Hall and establish a new Civic Heart in Surrey will act to accelerate such changes and facilitate delivering better services for residents.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Resources & Performance Select Committee]