Agenda item

1.            Mr Oakford, Mrs Spore and Mr Watts responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:-

a)    asked about plans for the future of the Strategic Headquarters (SHQ), Mr Oakford reminded the committee that several progress reports on the future of SHQ had been submitted to the committee over time and that a key decision report would be brought to the  November meeting;

b)    asked about whose decision it would be to either maintain or close a building, Mr Oakford advised that a decision had been made ten years ago that savings property assets would need to be made to support front line service delivery, and these savings were now becoming apparent in the form of proposals to close and dispose of premises which were surplus to service requirements and discussions about maintenance, for example, of the SHQ buildings. Focus was now more on maintaining and improving premises which the Council intended to retain in the longer-term. Part of this picture would be changes to work practices which had arisen in recent years and been exacerbated by lockdowns during the pandemic;

c)    Mr Oakford confirmed that had weekly meetings with Mrs Spore to monitor maintenance and monthly meetings with Property and Education teams about the County Council’s estate. He advised that it was for the Chair to decide how often reports on the condition and maintenance of the County Council estate should be made to the committee.  The Chair suggested that it would be sensible to look at maintenance as part of the main budget setting in the new year;

d)    Mr Watts added that any part of a premises proposed for sale would need to be the subject of a specific key decision, before marketing could begin, and part of this decision paperwork would be to include the vision for the future. Mr Oakford advised that work to SHQ which was the subject of a key decision in 2021 was currently starting but no key decision on the future use of SHQ had yet been taken;

e)    asked about the ‘warm, safe, dry’ (WSD) policy, Mr Oakford reminded that previous reports on maintenance issues of SHQ showed that that work had exceeded the WSD policy.  Mrs Spore offered to bring a report to the committee to set out and help Members understand the WSD policy.  Ongoing surveys would ensure that robust data would be available but funding available covered the bare minimum and made planning a future programme very difficult.  She reassured Members that no County Council building would continue to be used if it was deemed unsafe under Health and Safety legislation; and

f)     asked what information about a local premises proposed for disposal would be made available to a local Member, and when, Mr Oakford advise that the Local Member/s for a site would always be engaged as part of the Council’s formal decision-making process. It was not known yet which buildings might yet be considered for disposal in the future as an ongoing review was currently in progress.    

2.                  It was RESOLVED that the progress and the current cost data, based on surveys completed, be noted, with thanks.