Decision

RESOLVED: Cabinet:

1. Approved the proposals for delivering Phases 2A (Towcester) and 2B (Northampton) of the Office Optimisation programme.
2. Noted the £5 million (m) budget for the building works and £0.616m budget for IT equipment and works for Phase 2 of the Office Optimisation programme proposed in the draft budget.
3. Authorised the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children, Families & Education to consider the outcomes of consultation on relocation of Towcester Children’s Centre and if justified to approve the relocation of the Children’s Centre to the Forum.
4. Authorised the Assistant Director Assets & Environment in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance to:

a)    Granted a lease of part of the Forum, Towcester to Towcester Town Council in its capacity as trustee of the Towcester Community Centre Trust (charity number 304254) as set out in 5.8. This lease would be at no rent but would be in exchange for the surrender of the lease held by the Trust over the current Towcester Community Centre.

b)    Granted a lease of the 1992 Guildhall extension (except the parts of it retained with the historic Guildhall) and allied rights and agreements to a developer or occupier following a competitive disposal process.

c)    Granted a lease of space at County Hall and an allied license to use the Council Chamber and other relevant spaces to Northampton Town Council.

RESONS RESOLVED:

1. To deliver efficient, effective, and economical services for the people and businesses of West Northamptonshire.
2. To enable the Council to reduce revenue expenditure and maximise opportunities to generate revenue and/or capital income without adversely affecting services.
3. To make best use of the assets the Council would retain direct use of.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

There are a very large number of possible options and sub-options, meaning it would not be productive to list them all here. Given the work undertaken to date it is suggested that the key choice is whether to proceed with the schemes at all, and if so whether to proceed in Northampton on the basis that Angel is the main office base, with use made of space at County

Hall and the historic Guildhall as described above.