ITEM NO.
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REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABLE REGENERATION and DIRECTOR OF CHANGE
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TO
LEAD MEMBER FOR PROPERTY
13th December 2010
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TITLE: Strategic Property - City Council Core Sites Office Accommodation –
Unity House part refurbishment.
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RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Lead Member for Property:
1. Approves both the planned refurbishments to the Ground floor East and First Floor West within Unity House in line with the
budget estimates set out in this report.
2. Approves the refurbishment of the ‘common parts’ of Unity House, subject to more detailed estimates being provided.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Lead Member for Property approved a schedule of office moves in support of the closure of Minerva House and St James
House leading to revenue, saving for the council in excess of £500,000 p.a. once the closure costs are met.
The schedule of staff moves is partly reliant on the refurbishment of some areas of the Civic Centre to provide an appropriate IT
infrastructure and office layout to facilitate a more intensive use of the accommodation.
This report outlines the refurbishment proposals for two areas of Unity House, which will improve and intensify the use of office
space , which is an intrinsic part of the City Council’s approach to accommodation and contributes to the closure of Minerva House.
The refurbishment of part ground floor and part first floor of Unity House is within the Office Programme for 2010/11.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
Report of Report to the Lead member for Property of 14th September 2010
Report of Report to the Lead member for Property of 26th October 2010
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KEY DECISION:
Yes
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DETAILS:
1.0 Background
The majority of Unity House has been refurbished through capital investment in recent years. These refurbishments
have created modern office environments, addressed internal backlog maintenance issues and facilitated the more efficient use of
accommodation. Two areas of offices in Unity House on the ground floor east and first floors west are unrefurbished and require
investment to allow additional staff to be accommodated within the building. These two proposed projects are an intrinsic part of the
City Council’s approach to accommodation and contributes to the closure of Minerva House.
1.1 In addition, discussion with the Lead Member for Property has highlighted the need to refurbish the ‘common parts’ of the
building including carpets, ceilings and decoration to stairs and corridors and an allocation of backlog maintenance funds of
£35,000 has been set aside in this years backlog maintenance programme to address this area of work.
1.2 Budget allocation has been made within the capital Office Accommodation budget and Backlog Maintenance budget to address
the refurbishment of the two offices and common parts respectively. Completion of the works will mean all parts of Unity House
will have been refurbished reducing demand on maintenance budgets over the coming years.
2.0 Information
2.1The ground floor accommodation currently accommodates 69 Full Time Equivalent employees (FTE’s). The first floor
accommodation currently accommodates 75 FTE’s. The proposed refurbishment and adoption of the corporate office standards
will increase the capacity of the ground floor to 98 FTE’s (79 workstations) and first floor FTE’s 122 FTE’s (98 workstations).
(See revised layouts attached in appendix 1 & 2).
2.2 In support of the City Council’s overall efficiency drive the two proposed projects within Unity House will recycle 177 redundant
workstations from Minerva House, saving the council circa £123,000. As well as assisting to limit project costs recycling furniture
will facilitate the vacation of Minerva House reducing decanting costs ready for the building handover in September 2011. Other
elements to be recycled from Minerva House include ICT equipment and telephones.
2.3 To facilitate the two proposed refurbishments in Unity House will require the ‘decamp’ of staff to other locations. Due to the
large staff numbers involved it is proposed to partly use Minerva House accommodation whilst it is still in Council possession. If
the opportunity to utilise Minerva House is not taken before the property returns to the landlord’s in Sept 2011, the costs to
undertake the refurbishments is likely to increase as a result of additional accommodation costs.
2.4 In addition, to ensure the Unity House refurbishment is complete and to avoid further disruption on site to the delivery of
services it is recommended that the maintenance work to the ‘common parts’ are undertaken as a ‘roll on’ project to the office
refurbishments.
2.5 Although the 2010/11 budgets includes the costs to refurbish the 1 st floor west of Unity House due to the schedule of moves at
present it will not be possible in the current financial year and may require a carry forward to 2011/12. Also proposed for
2011/12 is the refitting of the 1st floor of Phase 2 to bring it into conformity with the other floors. This will be included in the bid
for office moves for 2011/12.
3.0 Financial Summary
3.1 As detailed in the previous Lead Member report of the 26th October, within the Minerva related works estimated of £1.113M, the
anticipated costs of the two projects are as follows:
GF Unity East
FF Unity West
Total
Estimated
£179,440
£166,822
£346,262
Actual
£175,852
£184.137
£359,898
3.1 A recent Office Moves 2010/11 budget review has highlighted that sufficient funds are available in the overall programme of
£1.74M to enable both schemes within Unity House to be potentially funded from this year’s capital allocation.
3.2 The total budgeted expenditure in 2010/11 is;
Minerva-related works;
£1.113m
Other
£0.633m
Total
£1.746m
(note: some non-Minerva related moves have already been achieved e.g. Innovation House and the relocation of Community
Safety to Turnpike House)
3.3 Detailed estimates are still to be obtained for the proposed works within the ‘common areas’ of Unity House, but it is anticipated
the backlog maintenance budget provision of £35,000 will be sufficient to complete the works.
4.0 Recommendation
1. That both planned refurbishments to the Ground floor East and First Floor West within Unity House are approved in line with
the budget estimates set out in this report.
2. That the refurbishment of the ‘common parts’ of Unity House is approved, subject to more detailed estimates being provided.
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EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS:
The review of office accommodation is underpinned by an understanding of the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and the
promotion of equal access to work for all existing and potential employees. This will include an assessment of reasonable
adjustments for staff with additional requirements.
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK:
High – This is the largest office moves programme undertaken by the Council.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING: Identified in the report
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS:
Supplied by Tony Hatton (Ext 2904) - Other than reference being made and due account being taken of the Equality Act 2010, no
legal implications.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Supplied by John Spink - Budget provision for the proposed works are included in the Council's
capital.
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OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED:
All Directorates Via One Council Team.
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CONTACT OFFICER: Rob Pickering 2818 / Martin Vickers 3407
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WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S): Swinton North