Agenda item

[Julia Nock MRICS,Head of Assets, to present report]

Julia Nock, Head of Assets, introduced the report to the panel. The Head of Assets outlined the context of the report and explained that the Our Assets strategy is incorporated into the Relighting Our Council programme.

 

The Head of Assets advised the panel that all Council employees have been classified as either having field, fixed or flexible working patterns, which will fundamentally change the demand for buildings and assets in the future and also lead to changes in the use and occupancy of some buildings.

 

The Head of Assets added that the approach to the management of land and buildings will ensure the Council proactively reviews and rationalises its portfolio to achieve improvements in outcomes for local communities, a rationalisation of property portfolio, reductions in carbon footprint, and maintenance costs.

 

The Head of Assets advised the panel that all land and property assets were in scope for the review and explained that there will remain a strong need for buildings across the city, The needs will differ from community to community and the right solutions will be reached by involving key stakeholders such as city partners, local community organisations, and local councillors.

 

The Head of Assets gave a brief overview of the different work streams linked to the Our Assets strategy and highlighted the importance of the Civic Centre building. The Head of Assets outlined the mandate previously agreed and which was also presented to panel members last year for comment.

 

The Head of Assets gave further details of the proposed accommodation strategy and advised the panel that Civic Centre building will be the base for city wide services and the organisational headquarters for the Council. The Head of Assets acknowledged that the Civic Centre is not suitable for all, especially for those employees categorised as field workers and there will be a need for other locations to deliver community or place-based services across the City.

 

The asset review will identify other buildings that are required for touchdown and collaboration purposes. These buildings will be multi service use or occupancy and will be managed corporately by the city assets service unless agreed otherwise. The aim will be to maximise the use and efficiency of the assets which will support the Relighting Our Council programme.

 

The Head of Assets outlined the four proposed review groups and advised the panel that the target date for completion of the work is 31 December 2021. The work on corporate offices groupings is nearing completion.

 

The Head of Assets advised the panel that in the commercial estate category there an estimated 450 leases in place across the city. The leases will be reviewed in terms of the benefits of holding those assets versus the income versus the cost to Council of retaining these assets. In the land category there are an estimated 1000 assets which will be reviewed. The work is expected to be completed in December 2021.

The Head of Assets outlined the asset review criteria which was approved by the Our Assets Board, for example, the community outcomes/opportunities and contribution to the service delivery as part of place-based working. The location, of the asset needs to be relative to the purpose.

 

The Head of Assets commented on the contribution of assets to supporting Council regeneration schemes, such as the relocation of the wholesale market. The Head of Assets commented that the assets programme has a key role in supporting the Council's target of being net carbon zero by 2028 but highlighted the challenge in retrofitting historical buildings across the city to make them more energy efficient.

 

The Head of Assets advised the panel that any sites considered for rationalisation investment and divestment a robust business case approach will be used. The business case will also include both financial and non-financial factors such as benefits to the local and wider communities.

The Head of Assets advised the panel of the short, medium and long-term timelines for the assets review and details of the specific work to be done. The asset review will enable the service to understand any potential opportunities and ascertain the impact at the community level. The service will continue to work with city partners, such as Wolverhampton Homes to develop a city-wide state solution and map where customer contact points to ensure such services remain accessible to local communities.

 

The Head of Assets gave a summary of the three key aims of the asset review. The panel were invited to comment on the report.

 

The panel queried the reference on page 13 on the presentation to all land and property assets being in scope for the review with the reference later in the presentation to the role of the Civic Centre remaining the Council’s organisational headquarters and the base for City wide services. The panel queried if the investment in refurbishing the Civic Centre had increased the value of the asset by the amount spent and suggested that an alternative location for the headquarters could be the I9 building would be better option. Furthermore, it was suggested that the site of the Civic Centre could be sold to a developer and the funds used to relocate council services to other buildings.

 

Claire Nye, Director of Finance, commented that the investment in the Civic Centre was not intended to add value to the building equivalent to amount spent, but instead the aim was to extend the life of the building to make it more usable, which has been achieved.

 

The Director of Finance referred to the business case that was presented at the time which detailed how the cost of the building work would be funded and detailed how the money spent would be recovered from the rationalisation of other assets, including property sales or reduced running costs.

 

The Director of Finance agreed to provide information on the current valuation of the Civic Centre to the panel.

 

The panel queried if a feasibility study was done at the time which included the option of relocating services more purpose-built office spaces from the Civic Centre as an alternative to spending the money on refurbishment of the building.

 

The Director of Finance agreed to check and report back to the panel but added that this option would have been considered at the time. The panel discussed the reasons and benefits of supporting the decision to invest in the refurbishment of the Civic Centre at the time.

 

The panel queried the numbers of employees within each the field, flex and fixed groups in terms of future use of council assets. The Director of Strategy gave details of the numbers in each of the groups.

 

Charlotte Johns, Director of Strategy, commented on the work done since a report was presented to the panel last year for pre-decision scrutiny about the proposed different work groups. Further work has been done since to assign job roles across the Council into those three categories as part of the Relighting Our Council programme. A further report will be presented to the panel in November 2021 on the Relighting Our Council programme for pre-decision scrutiny.

 

The panel discussed the reasons for the decision to fund the refurbishment of the Civic Centre and the extent to which it represented a good investment.

The panel queried the number of Council owned commercial properties. The Head of Assets advised the panel that exact numbers will be emailed. The Head of Assets added that the Council does not have many retail units in the city centre, and of these very few are vacant.  The Head of Assets updated the panel on the occupancy levels across the Council’s commercial real estate.

 

The panel queried the process for leasing of Council commercial properties and expressed concern about the impact of the pandemic on business. The panel commented on the work being done to promote empty buildings or retail shops and queried the support offered to support small businesses to recover.

 

The Head of Assets advised the panel that the Council has provided continuous support to business owners throughout the pandemic, for example, freezing rental payments or arranging repayment plans which has been well received. In addition, the service also offers support to commercial and retail tenants who may be starting up.

 

The panel expressed concern about the long waiting times reported from people wanting help from the services or delays in getting responses to queries. The panel asked for details of action being taken to respond to these concerns.

 

The Head of Assets advised the panel that the process of leasing commercial properties is detailed on a  dedicated ‘Land and Property for sale or lease’ website which lists properties available and links to further sources of help.

 

The Head of Assets welcomed enquiries from residents or commercial tenants who may be having difficulties in getting support or information.

 

The panel queried the Council’s responsibility for the maintenance of the transport infrastructure, including cycle hire and EV charging points referred to in presentation which are due to completed before March 2022.

 

David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer, reassured the panel that in relation to the contractual arrangements with the providers of such services that the legal team would work to protect the Council’s interests. Furthermore, as part of the due diligence process the legal team would ensure that providers meet their obligations, for example, providing cycles to the agreed quality standards.

 

The panel queried the policy of the Council maintaining small plots of land across the city, some of which has been subject to complaints of fly-tipping from residents.

 

The panel suggested the land could instead be offered to homeowners where possible to reduce the maintenance costs and complaints. The panel commented on the cost to the Council of maintaining such sites.

 

The Head of Assets commented that there is the land enquiry process which is available to residents to discuss buying small pockets of adjacent council owned land. The Head of Assets advised that this process can only be used where the land is to be  sold for extended garden use. The Head of Assets added that further details of the scheme are available online and members of the public can also contact the team directly to make enquiries.

 

The panel queried the policy of disposing of surplus assets and  highlighted concerns that when selling to a buyer that they should be challenged to explain their development plans for the site and bring forward proposals in a timely manner.

 

The panel highlighted concern about an example of local community building being sold to a developer wanting to extend into that area. The building was demolished two years ago but the planned expansion did not happen. The panel suggested that the needs of residents should be a priority when considering selling surplus community buildings. The Head of Assets noted the concerns expressed and reassured the panel about the process for disposing of surplus assets and the principles that would be applied in such circumstances.

 

The panel welcomed the report.

 

Resolved:

 

1.    The panel comments on proposed accommodation strategy be noted and considered by the Head of Assets.

 

2.    The Head of Assets to present a progress report against actions detailed in the timetable to a future meeting of the panel.

 

3.    The Head of Assets to present findings from the proposed review groupings to be reported to a future meeting of the panel.

 

4.    The Director of Finance to provide the panel with the current valuation of the Civic Centre and also whether the feasibility study completed at the time included  the option of relocating Council services to a purpose-built office spaces as an alternative to spending the money on refurbishment of the building.

 

5.    The Head of Assets to provide the panel with the number of Council owned commercial properties in the city