Council in £1.4m furniture spend for new headquarters (From York Press)
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Council in £1.4m furniture spend for new headquarters
9:14am Saturday 5th January 2013 in News
By Mark Stead, Political Reporter
YORK’S council chiefs are spending £1.4 million on furniture for their new headquarters.
More than 1,400 staff will move into West Offices in Station Rise in March once work on the historic building, which was once a railway station and has undergone a £32 million conversion is completed.
City of York Council is reducing the number of buildings it occupies from 17 to two – the other being the Hazel Court waste recycling centre. It says this will save £17 million over the next 25 years. It has earmarked £1.5 million to complete West Offices, which will house the authority’s customer contact centre.
Of this, £1.4 million will be used for furniture, with £918,000 in IT costs and £100,000 on audiovisual equipment. The expenditure was confirmed by the Labour-controlled authority following a question tabled by Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Cuthbertson.
The council has also said that, although about 1,440 staff will be based in West Offices, 2,507 seats will be bought, while most of the furniture from its current offices will not be reused because it is “not fit for purpose” at the new HQ. The total cost of the accommodation shake-up, including moving costs, is £43.8 million.
Responding to a question by Lib Dem councillor Ann Reid, Coun Julie Gunnell, cabinet member for corporate services, said the council’s current desks were “too big” for West Offices, while chairs were either “of very poor quality” or not adjustable.
She said: “Meeting-room furniture is also not designed for the spaces we will occupy, which need to be flexible and able to be set out in different styles.
“If we did move our existing furniture into West Offices, we would not be able to fit the same number of people into the building and would have had to retain at least one of our existing buildings, bringing with it an ongoing cost which would quickly exceed the cost of new furniture.”
Coun Gunnell said flexible working practices meant West Offices would not have a “one seat per person arrangement” and seats will also be needed for visitors to the customer centre, other agencies and outside organisations hiring rooms.
A council spokeswoman said all existing computers would be transferred, and audiovisual equipment was aimed at cutting travel costs, while old furniture will be reused or recycled and bringing it into the new HQ from 17 buildings would be more expensive long-term than buying new furniture. The £1.5 million fit-out costs were within the scheme’s original budget.
Comments(17)
xtc
says...
11:58am Sat 5 Jan 13
R'Marcus
says...
12:22pm Sat 5 Jan 13
Why could not they take the old furniture to the new building? Ah, well, common sense did not figure in York Councilk, did it?
Spend, spend, spend OUR money.
only human
says...
1:20pm Sat 5 Jan 13
Where is the reasoning behind forcing people to accept care from ad hoc private agencies who care more for profit than for the welfare of their employees or customers whilst spending an obscene amount of cash on ergonomic recliners and louvre door cabinets.
With the number of council employees being drastically cut maybe they should round up all the excess office furninture from vacated preises across york and utilise that first.
It will be coffee machines and wall framed artwork,coffee tables and plastic cups.
What a waste of public cash.
Shame on them.
Mulgrave
says...
1:45pm Sat 5 Jan 13
Scarlet Pimpernel
says...
2:31pm Sat 5 Jan 13
It's unbelieveable that at a time when the council is having to make cuts, they can throw millions away on furniture. The excuse that the existing furniture is too big for the building is a joke. The excuse that using existing furniture would mean that staff could not be accommodated is laughable - aren't the council letting an entire floor of the building because thery have too much space there ?
What about the £600,000 they are spending on James Street which is only five years old, with the same excuse that removing partitions to go open plan will give more workspaces ? How many ? I've heard that it's about half a dozen, and the real reason is that Kersten England wants the same open plan corporate style as West Offices - it's pure vanity - a waste of money !
The spin, lies and cheating by this Council is unbelieveable, no wonder Kersten England is rumoured to have applied for a job at Barnsley Council, but, didn't even get an interview. Rats leaving a sinking ship ?
monkeyhanger
says...
5:01pm Sat 5 Jan 13
Micklegate
says...
5:24pm Sat 5 Jan 13
monkeyhanger wrote:Indeed, a few thousand for salt bins can't be afforded, half the waste bins are taken, the money for road repairs is cut and yet it's million of pound after million of pound for the new grand HQ.
But dont forget,council cant afford salt in salt bins,weekly dustbin collections, to fix the pot holed roads etc.Nothing to good for Council staff in the Ivory tower However.
nearlyman
says...
5:39pm Sat 5 Jan 13
capt spaulding
says...
6:12pm Sat 5 Jan 13
Is J A on holiday ? and if he is please tell me its not Manilla.
Silver
says...
12:07pm Sun 6 Jan 13
the butler
says...
5:45pm Sun 6 Jan 13
Scarlet Pimpernel
says...
7:53pm Sun 6 Jan 13
the butler wrote:That is what Steve Galloway reported in his blog. Apparently, there had been an intention to retain as much of the old furniture as possible. This needs to be investigated, as it appears to be gross irresponsibility and massively wasteful.
This furniture adjustment was never part of this agreement, Who has rubber stamped this allowance?, also why was this not proposed as a necessary part of the modernisation.? A double shame on this team.
CRWPROJ
says...
8:33pm Sun 6 Jan 13
How many council houses would that amount of money build?
Would that amount of money pay for the old council offices to be converted to affordable housing? To council housing? Or is another national (international?) hotel preferable? For this to compete against local hotel businesses?
Anybody got any answers?
Expat Bob
says...
11:33pm Sun 6 Jan 13
R'Marcus wrote:It is a Joke. The existing furniture layouts could be redesigned to fit, then just buy replacment furniture where it is REALLY required. I have done this for large organisations/ companies many times and sometimes just supplied the flexible training room furniture to replace the old stuff.
Thgis council is a sick joke! Why could not they take the old furniture to the new building? Ah, well, common sense did not figure in York Councilk, did it? Spend, spend, spend OUR money.
There are still some good Office furniture companies in York and Harrogate. The council should shop around.
A good company would suggest this alternative
Expat Bob
says...
11:44pm Sun 6 Jan 13
R'Marcus wrote:It is a Joke. The existing furniture layouts could be redesigned to fit, then just buy replacment furniture where it is REALLY required. I have done this for large organisations/ companies many times and sometimes just supplied the flexible training room furniture to replace the old stuff.
Thgis council is a sick joke! Why could not they take the old furniture to the new building? Ah, well, common sense did not figure in York Councilk, did it? Spend, spend, spend OUR money.
There are still some good Office furniture companies in York and Harrogate. The council should shop around.
A good company would suggest this alternative
Expat Bob
says...
11:47pm Sun 6 Jan 13
jorvik says...
11:17am Sat 5 Jan 13
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