Top district councillors: £2.7m revamp of our offices is not for benefit of staff

Leading South Holland district councillors have moved to assure the public that the proposed £2.7million refurbishment of its Spalding headquarters is anything but for the benefit of its staff.

Leader Gary Porter and cabinet member Roger Gambba-Jones underlined that any public perception that the aim of the project was to create a “shiny, more comfy” environment was very far wide of the mark.
The actual proposal is that public services partners, such as the Department for Work and Pensions, will rent space at the offices, generating income for the council and reducing its overheads.
The earmarked money would fund the necessary changes to the ground floor.Councillors are adamant that the project will not go ahead unless the business case stacks up.

Speaking at Tuesday’s (Feb 14) cabinet meeting, Coun Gambba-Jones said: “[The proposed project is] about making it fit for purpose for the new clients coming in.
“The staff that are here are being shuffled around. If they benefit, it will be as an aside.”

Coun Porter endorsed that view, adding: “If we can’t deliver rental income and offset our costs, we won’t deliver the programme.
“There will be a scrutiny panel to make sure this project is delivered on time and on budget and it won’t be because we have set an unrealistic long time and inflated budget.
“If we can’t be sure, then it isn’t happening.”

Deputy leader Coun Nick Worth said current ground-floor staff would “decamp” to the second and third floors.

He said: “It’s about generating income and reducing costs to the taxpayer. The bonus is that we’ll get a community one-stop shop as a result of that.”

A three-man cabinet sub-committee overseeing the project was formalised on Tuesday. Coun Worth, Coun Malcolm Chandler and Coun Gary Taylor will be assisted by non-cabinet member Coun Colin Johnson, who has relevant experience.
Before that sub-committee had even been formed, the first new tenant in the project announced its arrival.
Spalding Jobcentre Plus, which is part of the Department for Work and Pensions, tweeted on Thursday that it will be relocating to Priory Road by the end of this year. The tweet was later deleted.

A council spokesman said on Monday: “We are at a key stage of discussions with several potential partners, including DWP with who we look forward to concluding agreement to relocate to Priory Road. No new partners are confirmed at this stage.”

However, Coun Porter said the DWP was “always coming”, as part of the government’s One Public Estate programme. It will go into an area formerly used by the council’s housing team.

He added: “If that’s the only bit that gets changed then so be it, nothing else is automatic. But we have got about £120,000 a year to spend on the place to keep its value up. If we have to double that but get it back as a revenue stream to offset our overheads it makes sense to do it, as well as saving other bits of South Holland public services money.”