Hampshire County Council

Executive Member for Policy & Resources Item 14

14 July 2005

Property Services Review

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

1

Summary

1.1

The following decisions are sought:

That approval be given to the proposed redevelopment of Estates and other property functions on the basis of the principles set out in the report.

2

Reason(s)

2.1

To provide a management framework that enables the development of staff, meets the changing nature of the Department's workload and represents integrated working across the property function.

This decision supports Aim 6 of the Corporate Strategy by creating opportunities to develop staff.

3

Other options considered and rejected

3.1

None.

4

Conflicts of interest declared by the decision-maker or other Executive Member consulted

4.1

Not applicable

5

Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1

Not applicable

6

Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1

Not applicable

Approved by:

..........................

Date of decision:

.........................

Councillor T K Thornber

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member for Policy & Resources Item

14 July 2005

Property Services Review

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

How the conclusion in this report fits with the Corporate Strategy

This scheme will impact on the delivery of the following Corporate Aims

Aim 5 - improving services

Aim 6 - developing councillors and staff

1

Summary

1.1

Purpose of Report

1.1.1

The purpose of the report is to recommend new arrangements within the Estates Practice and other parts of the Property function to meet the changing nature of its workload, provide a management framework that looks to develop staff for the future, and regroups staff into a model that represents more integrated working across the Property function. These proposals also recognise the impact of Ashburton Court and the leading role the department is playing across the South East Centre for Excellence on the construction workstream.

2

Estates Practice

2.1

The `Estates Practice' was integrated with the rest of the County Council's Property functions (Design, Maintenance, Office Accommodation) in 1996. The Practice has successfully delivered a wide range of estates` related services and contributed to wider property projects across the County Council's activities. This includes successfully generating capital receipts from the sale of land and property (which is widely known about). The Practice has also been influential in creating opportunities such as the re-provision of the John Hanson Secondary School at Andover, the regeneration of Popley and the proposed development at Manydown (which is probably much less well known). While capital receipts (disposal and valuations) are critical to sustaining our capital programme, long-term planning and advocacy on future development of County Council land is now essential if the development potential of the land is to be realised.

2.2

Increasingly, successful projects require a different emphasis on skills such as planning, urban design and project management which need to be added to the conventional estates and valuation roles. Working within longer term planning horizons has become more important as has the ability to manage across different professional groups. The existing Estates ` structure is fairly rigid and has not always allowed staff to develop at the rate that they could in other parts of Property. In a difficult recruitment market it is proposed to simplify the grading structure, realign particular posts and management activities into different groups and teams and build these teams up around the strategic and operational requirements of the wider Property function.

2.3

While a great deal has been achieved, this seems the right time to think about building new capacity for the future and seeking to develop wider roles for a range of posts consistent with existing and emerging challenges for the property function and the County Council as a whole. This matches the trend for property professionals in the private sector where recruitment of development surveyors and estates surveyors with major project management experience is difficult. This also helps deal with issues such as succession planning and the building of new capacity.

2.4

Future challenges will be concerned with:

_ preparing a strategic review of the County Council's assets, their future and exploring the issues for Hampshire's land as development opportunities arise over the next 5-10 years

_ developing capacity to manage the requirements of projects such as Manydown and Ashburton Court, and at the same time looking for further efficiencies in our asset base

_ promoting the development potential of County Council land through local and national planning processes

_ ensure the retention and personal development of the staff to their full potential (particularly in a difficult recruitment market)

_ recognising the skills needed to create and develop opportunities (e.g. Manydown) are different from the skills (still very much required) needed to manage the issues of a very large estate and County Farms holdings

_ responding to new opportunities to work with Health Trusts (including the Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (which is already underway) and the South East Centre of Excellence

_ contributing to and some cases leading project teams drawn from Property, other County Council Departments and consultants.

This process should also be concerned with evaluating the need to develop new talent and staff for the future recognising the age profile of many staff in the Property function. This is not a process that brings immediate outcomes. The results should be reviewed over the next three to five years and act as a response to build succession planning and new capacity into the mainstream of the function.

3

Proposals - Estates Team Structure

3.1

It is therefore proposed to build on the existing team structures by providing improved team management opportunities along with a simpler structure for each team recognising the different opportunities, skills and projects that each team faces. The existing structure (which in practice has sometimes acted as a brake on the development of staff) would be replaced by a more organic approach that balanced the County Council requirements with the development opportunities that each team faces.

3.2

There could therefore be teams based around:

1. Development and Projects Group

2. General Practice teams x 3

3. Land Agency and Gypsy and Traveller team

4. Strategic Planning & Estates Review

3.3

It is proposed that up to three new posts be created as Assistant Head of Estates to strengthen the management of the function and create new senior roles. These posts would lead three of the teams. At the next level there would be new posts of Estates Managers who would each lead a team. Over time and depending on the scale and complexity of the work and the projects these posts could increase if the workload and its complexities continued to increase. Within each team there would be new posts of Team Leader recognising that the post holders would manage projects and staff, and overall the new structure would provide more effective opportunities for staff development, alongside the requirements of the Councils workload and opportunities and create a more effective model for succession planning across the function.

3.4

The exact nature of each team would depend on the `portfolio' in each team. From time to time an Assistant Head of Estates could be expected to deputise for and act on behalf of the Head of Estates. There would, below this level, be no distinction between Senior Estates Surveyors and Estates Surveyors, but instead a grading/pay structure, consistent with what emerges from the Pay and Benefits review, which would recognise more easily and reward appropriately, personal development and responsibility of the different projects and tasks in each team. The team structure will also allow staff to be seconded (and rewarded) to other teams and other parts of property recognising the multi disciplinary nature of the work and the need to retain and develop talent that will take larger roles in the future.

3.5

The Property function as a whole has developed a matrix style approach to many aspects of its functions to bring together specific staff and skills for particular purposes. So far management groups exist for Health and Safety, Procurement, Design, Fire Management Policy, and Office Accommodation. It is proposed to extend this approach to a range of estates functions including Capital Receipts and Key Worker Housing. This would be consistent with the political priorities of the Council but also provides a sound basis for internal development of staff around key projects. The grading structure would reflect this changing contribution over time.

3.6

The Head of Estates is a member of the senior property management team and plays a significant role in the functional groups mentioned above and on key projects. It is proposed to drop the use of the term `Estates Practice' and replace it with `Estates` which describes its function as an integral part of Property alongside Architectural Design, Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Property Management and Procurement.

3.7

The day to day management of the function will be with the Head of Estates. It is anticipated for the reasons mentioned above, that the Assistant Head of Estates and the Estates Managers would, with the Head of Estates, play a wider role in the management of the function recognising the importance of that role but balancing it with the role that the Head of Estates plays, on a range of key projects. For other activities e.g. development opportunities or the strategic management of major asset issues it is proposed that a team of senior staff would be commissioned as required. The grades for all the posts would be evaluated in the normal manner. The likely difference in the risks and types of project in each team, would mean that over time there would be no set grading pattern for each team but a structure and grading system that reflected the demands of the Council's workload and opportunities.

4

Project Services

4.1

The property function has for several years developed a team relating to Project Services, which can be used to tackle specialised projects, build capacity or develop work and project opportunities. The major Enhance Project is run through Project Services.

4.2

The challenges of Ashburton Court, the work emerging from the departments leadership of the construction workstream for the South East Centre of Excellence, and the continued need to build specialised capacity to implement major construction projects, has led to the need to recruit and strengthen this team. It is proposed to recruit new capacity to the team and reconfigure certain existing posts. The team will be strengthened by the internal promotion of an existing Assistant Head of Architecture to Deputy Head of Project Services. New capacity for the team will be recruited externally for the specialised Project Management roles for Ashburton Court.

4.3

The posts and work associated with the South East Centre of Excellence (SECE) will be funded by the Centre and the fees from the projects that the councils pay to the County Council, will fund further posts.

5

SECE - Procurement Functions

5.1

Several new project management roles will be required for the SECE workload. The costs of these posts will be met by the Centre for the duration of the work. These roles will focus on providing support to other councils, developing Demonstration Projects for the centre and defining opportunities for other Council's to gain efficiencies and benefits from more effective methods of construction procurement.

6

Financial Implications

6.1

Through the activities referred to above, the successful strengthening of the Estates` function will continue to provide significant savings for the Council through negotiated reductions in non-domestic rates payable, and by generating major flows of capital receipts from potentially surplus land and property assets such as from the land at Popley and Manydown. The costs of this remodelling of the function will be contained within the departments approved budgets. The costs of the other posts will be funded from the fee provision made in the Capital Programme and from resources allocated to the Department for the South East Centre of Excellence.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Executive Member for Policy and Resources approves

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the proposed redevelopment of the Estates and other property services functions on the basis of the principles set out in this paper.