Agenda item

This report explains the Council’s Strategic Property Management Plan, provides the data and outcomes from the workplace utilisation study and the Future Planned Approach (FPA) to the estate.

Declarations of interest:

None

Witnesses:

John Stebbings, Chief Property Officer

Denise Le Gal, Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience

Key points raised during the discussions:

Strategic Property Management    

1.    The Chief Property Officer assured the Board that whilst there were a number of vacant assets across the organisation, they were all under review and managed in order to reduce the figure wherever possible.

2.    Members requested further information be provided around the total cost of vacant assets to the Council and the total cost of loss of income as a result.  The officer explained that the loss of income cost was already absorbed within the income revenue accounts.

3.    The Board was informed that there was a statutory requirement to hold some vacant property in order to support frontline service delivery.  There was the need to be able to set up an emergency mortuary if needed, and whilst demand was high, hold potential sites for the school build programme.

4.    The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience stated that whilst it was not desirable to have so many vacant assets, given the Council’s current financial situation, the maintenance costs associated with restoring some vacant assets back to a standard where they could be leased out or sold on was not currently affordable. 

5.    The Board requested that the service provided all members with a list of vacant assets, by borough and district, detailing the reason for, and where possible, the duration of the vacancy.  Officers noted that Members could contribute valuable local knowledge that may assist in future decision making related to vacant assets.

6.    The Cabinet Member explained that some vacant asset sites had been identified as part of the Council’s plan to create 600 extra care homes within the next decade as part of the Accommodation with Care & Support strategy in Adult Social Care.  By creating in-house care solutions for the future, it was expected that the Council could save around £4,500 annually per person on care provision.

7.    The officer explained that funding from OnePublic Estate allowed the service to reduce the vacant property level.  The officer stated that the service aspires to decrease the vacant asset rate to just 5% of the portfolio in the long term.

8.    The Board enquired as to whether short term leasing of vacant assets been considered as a way of increasing property income.  The officer assured members that all options had been considered, including short term leasing, however he explained that often during negotiations, there seemed to be a variation between what was required by the tenant and what was provided by the Council as landlord, leading to some leases not materialising. 

9.    Members suggested that as part of the next review, the Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) could be further updated to include challenges faced by the service as well as successes.

Office Utilisation Data

10.  Members enquired as to what the next steps were now that the utilisation data was available.  The officer explained that the data highlighted that there was a high level of no-shows for meeting room bookings and that this was to be addressed by the introduction of a new room booking management system in early 2017. 

11.  The officer indicated that whilst the data highlighted areas of unused office capacity across the four main Council sites, a larger piece of work still needed to be undertaken to determine how staff and teams were reconfigured in order to potentially free up an office building.  This would involve understanding workforce requirements within different teams and how those teams operated and engaged with residents. 

12.  A Member enquired if it would be possible to restrict officer bookings of meeting rooms at the Surrey History Centre in order to allow for them to be hired out to external people to allow for revenue generation.  The officer noted this suggestion.

The Future Planned Approach (FPA)

13.  Members enquired as to who the Corporate Asset Panel consisted of.  The officer explained that the panel consisted of officers from different services across the organisation, and that they worked together to develop a holistic approach to the delivery of business plans.

14.  The officer acknowledged that Members could contribute a vast amount of local knowledge to the FPA and it was requested that some thought was given as to how the service could link in with Members.

Further information to be provided:

·         A list of vacant assets by borough/district sent to Members to inform them of the purpose of the building, the reason for and length of vacancy and to seek their input on the future use of these assets.

·         Total cost to the council of the vacant assets that are not currently held for council needs or strategies.

Recommendations:

·         The Board recommends that Property consider a programme of engagement with local committees to engage Members’ on solutions to vacant property

·         Explore the possibility of reviewing SAMP v.2

·         Consider how Property could involve Members in the FPA?

·         Review the results of the FPA at the July 2017 meeting of COB.

Margaret Hicks left the meeting at 11:00am.