Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation]

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation introduced the report which sought approval for the programme of office moves, refurbishments and agreement to tender the package of works, to ensure the delivery of high quality services.  Changes were required to a number of key council buildings to support immediate goals relating to the New Ways of Working Programme and the Accommodation Strategy, during the intervening period before the refurbishment of the Civic Centre, subject to final decision on that project in January 2022

The Cabinet Member and Assistant Director for Capital Projects and Property responded to questions from Councillor Cawley-Harrison:

-           There were no decisions to be made at this stage regarding the future of any building.  The decision at this stage was in relation to the short term future of the buildings whilst the refurbishment of the Civic Centre took place.

-           Valuations had not been carried out on the properties, as they would be used for the Council’s own operational purposes.

-           Not using River Park house would reduce the amount of carbon produced there.  The Council would be looking proactively at future proposals to see how net zero carbon can be achieved going forward.

RESOLVED to

1.      Approve the planned refurbishment works for Alexandra House and 48 Station Road, to allow for their re-occupation by officers. 

2.      To agree to the tendering of the package of works following the procurement approach set out in section 8 of this report.

3.      To note the estimated budget of £10.16m.

Reasons for decision

To deliver office accommodation improvements

The council has a poor standard of office accommodation, which is not reflective of the expectations of a modern workforce and does not enable high quality services for our residents.

Investment in the interior decoration, and fit-out of Alexandra House and 48 Station Road has been not taken place for a number of years.  Some planned maintenance and compliance works are also now required, which will be more economic to deliver as a single programme.

To ensure the council has an appropriate accommodation offer, prior to the Civic Centre project completing in 2025, with or without an Annex.  This means investment is required across our sites for the next 4 years usage, which will also contribute to enhanced assets and value to the council once vacated.

To enable the continued adoption of flexible working

Prior to the pandemic, the council was on a journey of adopting modern, flexible ways of working and improving council accommodation to enable this.

A significant number of staff continued to come into Haringey and use council accommodation during the pandemic but this period has also demonstrated that widespread flexible and home working can allow officers to continue to deliver for our residents and reduce the cost of council accommodation, whilst also improving the work-life balance for many staff.

The Council’s vision for how it will work in the future will recognise the benefits of maintaining flexibility in where its staff work. Whilst there are clear benefits to retaining the ability for staff to work remotely from home and other locations, we also believe that a physical connection to Haringey as a place is vital to ensuring that our staff maintain a close relationship with the residents and communities we serve, and enabling our staff to collaborate with colleagues from across the council and partner organisations.

Under this ‘Hybrid’ working model, it is expected that all staff will have regular reasons to come into work in Haringey, either within council accommodation or out in the communities they serve and most staff will split their working time between some combination of home, council accommodation and being out in the communities we serve. It is therefore envisaged that very few Council roles will continue to be suitable for 100% remote working.

Officer teams are in a phase of reconnecting and returning to a greater presence in the borough, supported by some immediate reconfiguration of office space.

In order to ensure that the council’s office accommodation supports this hybrid model of working, the existing office design, and supporting I.T. infrastructure, is in need of updating. The proposed building and furniture layouts will provide a mix of work settings for staff, including traditional desking for focussed, individual work but also with a significant increase in the amount of flexible space designed to enable collaborative working.

The buildings will also be equipped with new audio-visual technology to enable ‘hybrid’ working, allowing staff to work together regardless of whether they are in the office or working remotely. 

The plans are also designed to encourage greater collaboration between council directorates and services. Whilst each council Directorate will have an allocated floor in either Alexandra House or 48 Station Road, remaining floors in each building will not be allocated to any specific service and will instead provide flexible working and meeting space for all council staff to use, thus increasing the opportunities for cross-service collaboration.

To support short-term goals in the Accommodation Strategy

The Council intends to co-locate all its core office functions into the refurbished Civic Centre (subject to a future Cabinet decision), and the project will complete in 2025.  The Council requires office accommodation that is compliant with safety regulations, of sufficient size for its workforce, and in a suitable condition for the interim period.

The proposals allow for flexibility for future options, including the vacation of River Park House and 40 Cumberland Road, and any future decision will be subject to its own business case and decision-making process.

In order to consolidate into 48 Station Road and Alexandra House refurbishment works are needed that create a suitable office environment, ensure these important public buildings demonstrate civic pride, and complete essential maintenance and compliance works, which are required in any event.

Included in this proposal are improved facilities for cycle parking and showering.  These will support staff to adopt Active Travel to work modes (walking, cycling, running) which supports the Council’s sustainability goals. It also makes possible physical activities for staff as part of our Workforce Wellbeing strategy (for example through running clubs).

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing

Doing nothing is not recommended.  Council officers are working almost entirely remotely.  They cannot return to Council offices in their current condition, as there are various maintenance and safety issues that need to be addressed.  This would mean an increasing risk of service failure in key statutory services, if adequate workspace was not provided. 

Staff cannot continue indefinitely to work fully remotely, without deteriorating wellbeing and productivity.

Continuing to occupy all four buildings is a high cost option, as the Council would have to meet the maintenance, energy and other costs.

The Council would fail to meet its Net Zero Carbon ambition if this option was chosen, due to the poor energy efficiency of River Park House.

Return to pre-pandemic ways of working

Returning to pre-pandemic ways of working is not recommended for a number of reasons.  The Council’s workforce strategy has included the expectation to move towards more flexible and agile ways of working over a long period.  The pandemic accelerated this change, rather than creating a change of direction.

Staff have indicated a strong preference for continuing to work remotely for part of the week.  In order to recruit and retain a high performing workforce, moving to modern ways of working is in the Council’s overall interest.

Were the Council to seek to substantially reversing this trend, this would require the Council to invest substantially in all the buildings in Station Road to bring them to the required standard.   The capital cost of those works would be substantially higher. The Council would also retain the ongoing running costs of these buildings. 

Investment in other buildings to provide workspace

Other options for provision of workspace have been considered and discounted as they do not represent value for money.

More extensive refurbishment programme for Alexandra House

As part of the planned and preventative works at Alexandra House, some of the elements of the Heating, Ventilation and Cooling System are ageing and will need to be replaced over a period of time.  Consideration was given to bringing forward all of this investment, to coincide with the refurbishment works proposed in this report.

This was discounted on the grounds of both timing and the additional cost at this stage, whilst the council considers the long term usage of Alexandra House.  This work is not considered as urgent, and informed decisions can be made, once a decision is taken on the Civic centre with an Annex, in January 2022 and master planning work for Wood Green has been progressed.