Agenda item

Mr P. Bedford CC, Lead Member for Recovery and Transformation, has been invited to attend for this item.

The Commission considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update on the delivery of the Council’s Ways of Working programme following a request made by the Commission at its meeting in November 2022.  The report set out progress made against the recommendations of the informal scrutiny task and finish group which reported to the Commission in March 2022, and the impact of the Programme on the Council’s property assets.

Arising from discussion the following points were made:

(i)                Members commented on the benefits of the Ways of Working (WOW) Programme which provided greater flexibility for staff and which it was recognised would be beneficial in addressing recruitment and retention pressures across all service areas.  Many organisations were now adopting a hybrid approach to where people work and a Member commented that it would no longer be possible, or desirable, to return to a full time office based approach.

(ii)              In response to questions raised, Members noted that the floor space calculated as being necessary for County Hall staff within the original WOW business case had been between 5,000 and 7,500 square metres.  A Member commented that this was significantly less than what the current County Hall campus provided and queried what was taken into account in making this assessment.  The Director undertook to provide more information after the meeting.

(iii)             It was noted that floor space requirements were evolving and being reviewed as the programme was rolled out service area by service area.  Members acknowledged that time was needed to allow staff to adapt and determine what space was necessary to support future working practices.  Some teams were being brought into new collaborative work space for the first time and they would require a period of adjustment.

(iv)            The Lead Member commented that a balance needed to be struck between letting parts of County Hall that had been identified as not being needed and ensuring some space was retained to meet future requirements.  He also emphasised the need to allow managers time to work with their teams to ensure the best service delivery model was adopted.

(v)              A Member suggested that entrance numbers to the County Hall campus did not help in determining the extent to which the building was still being used by County Council staff, given that large sections had now been let to external partners.  A Member requested that the entrance numbers be broken down to provide a clearer picture of how the Council’s staff were working.

(vi)            In response to a question regarding the retention of space to accommodate the collections hub, Members noted that a holistic approach had been taken regarding the use of County Hall when developing the WOW programme.  Other projects, including the collections hub, had therefore been taken into account when considering campus requirements.  This would continue as the programme was rolled out as, whilst separate projects that needed to assessed individually, there were obvious overlaps and every effort would be made to ensure future need as well as current need for Council business would be accommodated.  The Director undertook to re-circulate the slides from a presentation provided to all Members in December 2022 on the MTFS and the Council’s Property Assets which included details of the County Hall Campus Strategy linked to the WOW programme. 

(vii)           In response to questions raised, the Director confirmed that generic office space was being let (with no tailoring to meeting particular organisations’ needs), and that this was generally on a 3 to 5 year lease and so there was flexibility for long term changes to meet future Council requirements if that proved necessary.  Members noted there were currently 6 tenants now located within County Hall and each were charged a proportionate sum to cover costs for repair and maintenance of common areas and day to day running costs.

(viii)          Leicestershire residents and specifically the Council’s customers were at the heart of the development of the WOW programme. Engagement with managers from the outset had been based around what services might look like in future to meet their needs.  This process had gone well, and managers were regularly reviewing this to ensure office adaptations accommodated this.

(ix)            A Member commented that the report did not provide clarity around timescales for the delivery of the WOW programme, and it was requested that further detail on this be provided in a future report to the Commission.

(x)              Ensuring that the programme was inclusive of all Council staff had been identified as a key risk at the outset.  Efforts had therefore been made to ensure communication was wide, involving the Council’s various worker groups (e.g. the disability LGBT+ and BAME workers’ groups) and also those staff not traditionally office based.  The breadth of services provided by the County Council meant that some would inevitable more affected by the changes than others.

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the update now provided be noted;

(b)   That more information be provided to Commission Members after the meeting on the current identified floor space requirement for County Council staff and how this was calculated.

(c)   That in the next update to the Commission, County Hall entrance numbers be broken down to provide a clearer picture of how the Council’s own staff were working.

(d)   That a copy of the slides from the presentation provided to all Members in December 2022 on the MTFS and the Council’s Property Assets which included details of the County Hall Campus Strategy linked to the WOW programme be re-circulated to Members of the Commission;

(e)   That a further update on the delivery of Ways of Working Programme be presented to the Commission in approximately 12 months’ time.