Archived decisions

Contact: Andrew Smith Ext: 7826 e-mail: [email protected]

John Duggan Ext: 7873 e-mail: [email protected]

1.0 Summary

1.1 The report to Cabinet on 24 July 2006 approved the project appraisal for Ashburton Court at an estimated cost of £40.166m, inclusive of construction works, decant/facilitating costs and design fees. Members will be aware that the project has begun and evidence of its impact is visible to all who work at HQ. The project is on cost and a few weeks behind the original programme.

1.2 The main construction works are programmed from January 2007 until late Spring of 2009 for the completion of the second phase works for north and west blocks and the new accommodation to the podium. The purpose of this report is to consider further opportunities that arise as the building project proceeds, in particular the potential efficiencies in staff occupancy levels and the opportunities to release further buildings and reduce long term revenue costs. The report also provides a brief update on the construction project, clarifies the decanting arrangements, and outlines the result of recent design work to establish a carbon friendly building. The report also highlights the opportunity to rename Nuance Global House in Eastleigh (which the Council will fully occupy) and Ashburton Court.

1.3 The envelope of the refurbished building also provides a unique opportunity (referred to in the original appraisal) to relocate the Council's Computer Suite. A separate report on this proposal is in the confidential section elsewhere on the agenda.

1.4 The final occupation strategy, increasing the number of staff occupying the completed building from around 600 to more than1,000, significantly improves the efficiency and utilisation of the building and the return on the investment, and allows further buildings to be released hence reducing long term revenue costs. These opportunities occur at a time when it is feasible to report that the number of buildings to be relinquished as a result of Ashburton Court has had increased financial benefits by up to £1 million. It is recommended that this amount be reinvested in the scope of the works. Sufficient feasibility work has also been done to examine the value of the former Carfax site (now not required for our HQ) and the benefit that receipt brings to the project. This is further explained in the confidential report.

1.5 Overall it is possible, should the Cabinet wish to do so, to increase the scope and benefits of the project from within the original parameters set by the asset management and capital receipt strategy that formed the basis of the overall proposal. This has the benefit of avoiding future revenue charges for leased accommodation and at a later stage further capital costs for a new Data Centre. It is likely that further benefits for the scheme could arise as design and construction works proceed.

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1. approve the use of resources up to the level of the financial benefits released from the other leased or freehold property no longer required for HQ accommodation;

2. instruct the Director of Property, Business & Regulatory Services to
report on the opportunities to further rationalise the HQ accommodation in Winchester;

3. consider what the new (Ashburton Court) building, and what Global Nuance House in Eastleigh should be called.

1.0 Occupational Strategy

2.1 Final Occupation Strategy

2.1.1 A final occupation strategy for Ashburton Court from Spring 2009 has been prepared. This strategy was based on the opportunities to bring together departments that will benefit from a shared working environment and create adjacencies which will promote and improve services. Children's Services HQ from central Winchester, together with Adult Services HQ and functions in the City, were agreed as a priority to occupy the new accommodation. In addition, it is proposed that IT Services locate into Ashburton Court from Capital House where they have decanted to.

2.1.2 The Environment Department, who will complete temporary decant moves out of Ashburton Court West and North by the end of Phase 1 (completion of Ashburton Court East), will occupy a proportion of the completed project. A strategy for the final location of all the Department's staff will be formulated in due course and confirmed once a review of all potential retention and disposals of central Winchester office accommodation is completed. The aim is to maximise the potential efficiency of Ashburton Court through flexible and mobile working, with final occupancy capacities being settled as detailed studies are completed of staff work patterns and utilisation studies completed for those departments occupying the building.

2.1.3 It should also be said that although plans have now been made about the final occupancy of Ashburton Court, the outcome of the Strategic Property Review, as it affects the office portfolio in Winchester, is likely to have impacts and implications for a large number of staff across all departments of the County Council. The proposed strategy will be reported to a future meeting of the Cabinet.

2.0 Efficiency and Staff Occupancy

2.1 When the Cabinet approved the project in July 2006, the report recommended a target efficiency improvement of 10% (i.e. 11 staff for every 10 workstations). Since that time, a data gathering exercise has been undertaken for two of the future departments who will occupy the building, including space utilisation and working pattern studies. In addition, benchmarking exercises have been undertaken on `flexible working' offices completed by both the County Council (Montgomery House and Chantry House (PBRS and Adult Services respectively)) and other similar organisations, eg Hertfordshire County Council. Mace, the County Council's Project Managers for the Ashburton Court Project, have also given advice on target occupation levels based on their experience of delivering projects for both major public and private sector organisations, eg BAA.

2.2 Following this extensive piece of work (which is still on-going as other departments are subject to the same studies), it is proposed to increase the potential target efficiency levels which will enable the County Council to maximise its return on the capital investment. This will reduce the County Council's requirement for office space in Winchester and enable:

- Capital receipts to be generated from the sale of surplus freehold accommodation.

- Revenue savings from the relinquishment of leasehold office accommodation.

- Reduction in other occupation costs such as non-domestic rates, repair and maintenance, energy and any service charges.

2.3 A minimum and maximum target can be established of 950-1,100 staff occupying the completed building. By comparison, Ashburton Court accommodated around 625 staff before the project commenced on site. The revised target represents and efficiency ratio of approximately 5 staff : 4 desks and up to 7 staff : 5 desks. The final scheme design approved at Planning in November 2006 accommodates 775 workstations, still in line with that reported to Cabinet in July 2006 - at least 25% more than the existing.

4.0 The construction project

4.1 The main construction work commenced in January 2007 with the removal of the limpet asbestos to the underside of East Block and setting up the site. The demolition of the East Block structures is now well advanced, with the removal of the existing upper roof and pre-cast cladding panels completed. Steelwork installation has commenced.

4.2 Removal of the existing podium asphalt has proved more difficult due to an increased thickness of material discovered. Some delays have occurred due to the unforeseen work required for both the limpet asbestos removal and additional asbestos discovered within East Block which are both impacting on the main programme. This has delayed the work by a few weeks. The removal of the limpet asbestos was originally programmed as a separate enabling contract due to the scale of work and the unpredictable nature of its removal, but could not commence for health and safety reasons until the New Year when East Block had been fully decommissioned.

4.3 A further programme review will take place in September when the cladding package is well advanced and the completion date for East Block can be confirmed or amended with confidence.

5.0 Decanting/Move Management Progress

5.1 Work is now well in hand to organise the necessary decanting and moves of some 850 staff between now and the end of the year.

5.2 Initial Summer Moves (2007)

5.2.1 The immediate focus has been to complete refurbishment work both at Nuance House in Eastleigh, and the top floor of Capital House, Winchester in order to facilitate the early vacation of Ashburton Court North block. These two projects have gone well, and are due to be complete shortly, on time and on cost. Staff will relocate to Eastleigh over the weekend of the 21/22 July, by which time the moves to the top floor of Capital House will also have been implemented. These decanting moves, together with some other more minor changes, will enable the remaining staff in the north block of Ashburton Court to relocate to the west block over the following weekend, 28/29 July. This then releases the north block to the contractor for early intrusive investigative work.

5.3 Nuance Global House

5.3.1 Given that the Council is now the sole occupier of Nuance Global House, the building will shortly have a new profile in the town, and it is proposed that the relevant approval be sought from the local authority for a change of name for the building, to `Hampshire House'. In addition to the space for decanting, from the beginning of September, the building will provide a new multipurpose training/conference space, specifically for use as the home of the new HATs meetings in the locality, and for IT training of Adult and Childrens Services staff.

5.4 Vacation of the West Block

5.4.1 In parallel with planning activities for the summer moves, there is now a great deal of work underway to ensure that on completion of phase one of the project, the two large groups (some 600 staff altogether) in both the west wing of Ashburton Court, and Castle Avenue will be able to move swiftly to their new locations. The Children's Services department will relocate principally from Castle Avenue to the new accommodation in Ashburton Court East, and once they have moved, it will be possible to transfer the Environment staff into the vacated Castle Avenue building. The precise timing of these activities, and cost implications are being assessed.

6 Sustainability

6.1 Ashburton Court is on course to be one of the UK's leading low carbon buildings. The fact that this has been created within the constraints of an existing building, a sensitive historic context and a challenging budget makes the potential achievement even more remarkable. A BREEAM rating of `Excellent' has already been given at the design stage and detailed technical analysis has shown that the carbon footprint of the existing building can be reduced by well over half. A combination of factors lie at the heart of the environmental approach:-

- engagement of some of the UK's leading experts in sustainable urban design working in tandem with the Council's in-house team

- more intensive use of an existing city centre asset that already has excellent public transport provision

- re-use of the concrete structure to save nearly half of the `embodied' energy normally used to construct a building of this kind

- creation of a more comfortable and appropriate working environment for staff and users

- adoption of a natural ventilation system using `renewable' wind energy as the primary driver

- recycling of waste heat from the IT suite to provide a `free' heat source

- recycling of demolished material on other Hampshire County Council projects

- wider consolidation of the Council's central Winchester campus initiated by Ashburton Court allowing the release of other buildings that are likely to be poor for environmental performance.

6.2 It is intended that the building's environmental credentials will be exemplary helping to establish the County Council's ambition for innovation and delivery of viable and sustainability projects.

7 Conclusion

7.1 The refurbishment of Ashburton Court is obviously a major building project with the usual elements of risk. However, the success of the project is not limited to a completed building project. The design will be a major improvement also to the environment of Winchester, particularly the sense of arrival at the railway station. The project will set a standard in environmental terms for civic buildings in the country. The embedded efficiencies brought about by more flexible working and higher utilisation levels will be significant contributions to future efficiency reviews.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1 Published works

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act

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