Issue - items at meetings - Moving Closer to Residents: Delivering Our Ambition

As part of the council’s ongoing transformation programme, it is making significant cultural and structural changes to the way it operates to benefit residents. In addition, the council is committed to modernising its ways of working as well as recruiting and retaining a workforce fit for the future. This report focuses on the need to accelerate the development of our workforce and new ways of working, as set out in the council’s Organisation Strategy 2019-2023.

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

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]

The Leader introduced this update report and explained that a suitable building for the ‘civic heart’ had not yet found and went on to talk about the strategy for moving people out of County Hall. He highlighted several areas of the report including agile working based on outcomes and that exemplar hubs were to be set up.