Decision details

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet approves the recommended programme of activity (see paragraph 15) to deliver a reduced office estate footprint alongside essential transformational investment to deliver workspaces across the county that support the Council's agile organisation objectives. Further details are set out in the Part 2 report.

2.    That Cabinet agrees a total capital budget envelop of up to £21.8m to fit out the remaining core facilities and priority localised workspaces, to the Council’s Agile workspace standards.

3.    That Cabinet approves immediate allocation (from the £21.8m envelop) of £4.7m to drive forwards the programme activity (noting that further work will be undertaken to test the scope and available options for provision of core workspace in the North West quadrant – an additional paper will then be brought back to Cabinet in Q2 2022 with a recommended option and draw down from the remaining £17m capital funding).

4.    That Cabinet approves the use of the Budget Equalisation Reserve to finance the £7.2m of one-off revenue costs of change to enable delivery of the estate transformation programme from 2021-2025 and deliver revenue efficiencies of approximately £2.2m per annum from 2024/25 onwards.

5.    That Cabinet approves the arrangements by which a variation of up to 10% and maximum of £500k of total capital value may be agreed by the Director of Land & Property in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Property, the Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources, and the Executive Director of Resources. If the variance exceeds £500k, a further Cabinet report will be submitted to seek approval for additional capital funds.

6.    That Cabinet delegates the procurement of appropriate supply chain partners to enable delivery of all services associated with the above recommendation, in accordance with the Council’s Procurement and Contract Standing Orders, to the Executive Director of Resources and the Director of Land and Property.

Reasons for Decisions:

January 2021: Cabinet approved the outline Agile Office Estate Strategy which made the broad case for change, setting out key drivers and key targets. Specifically, the current corporate office estate was deemed to be:

• Of generally low quality, that does not efficiently support the adoption of Agile modern working practices.
• Expensive compared to industry benchmarks and expensive to maintain.
• High in its carbon output with poor energy efficiency.
• Relatively poorly located and under-utilised.

The strategy set out the components of a new office estate for Surrey County Council based on the evidence from a review of the existing estate and of the opportunities for new ways of working. Whilst the outline strategy was approved, it concluded that further analysis was required before the volume and location of space could be finalised(refer to Table 1 below).

Following January’s paper, agile workforce analysis has enabled detailed option reviews to meet demand and the development of a detailed five year programme of rationalisation and modernisation which will deliver an office estate that is flexible enough to support Services as they change office-based working practises to adopt agile ways of working; provides modern, healthy, accessible space to meet the needs of Surrey County Council and its partners; financially sustainable; and more energy efficient. Specifically, the following benefits will then be realised:

              i.        Revenue savings of circa £2.2m per annum from 2025/26.

             ii.        Flexibility for future increase/decrease workspace without acquiring additional assets.

            iii.        Improved quality for healthy, accessible space for staff, partners, and residents.

           iv.        Increased value of estate, mitigation against spiralling maintenance costs, leasable unused space, generating revenue or supporting partners to deliver.

             v.        Balanced geographical coverage across Surrey (aligns to greener travel plan).

           vi.        Support Net Zero ambition by 2030, by improved median energy efficiency and efficient operation.

          vii.        A network of modernised touchdown/delivery facilities, developed via a place-based approach to meet Service needs, develop partnership opportunities, and deliver maximum benefit to local communities.

(This item can be called in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee]