Decision

The Assistant Director of Property and Investment has approved the taking of a further lease of the Cheshire Lines Building, Basement, Canning Street, Birkenhead with Merseyside Estates for a further 2 year term commencing on 17 May 2028 on terms otherwise set out in the exempt Appendix 1.

Reasons for the decision

The Council previously occupied three floors from Merseyside Estates (“the landlord”) within the Cheshire Lines Building, Canning Street, Birkenhead on a lease which started in 2004.  In 2024 the Council relocated its main offices from the upper floors in Cheshire Lines to the new Mallory Building in Birkenhead town centre.  At that time the Council agreed with the landlord a lease to remain in occupation of part of the basement area until May 2028, to retain the archives and records management service until a new provision could be identified.

Following a review of the current Archive and Records Management Service (ARM) it was established that there are approximately 40,000 Record Management Boxes plus six miles worth of shelving space committed to storage of Archival material held within the Cheshire Lines basement. The long-term vision for the ARM service is to be part of the Cultural Hub offering, but this is envisaged as only holding a limited amount of readily available material, focussing on the regularly accessed items along with artifacts that can be part of presentations and displays. It is anticipated that the rest of the archive material would be transferred to an off-site provision, which meets the long-term environmental storage conditions and which Wirral already utilises.

National Archives with whom the Council is accredited has been consulted on the review of the ARM Service. They have agreed that the plan that was presented to them appears to be sound and appropriate.  However, they had considerable concerns over the original timescales that had been set for completing the move by March 2028.  They deemed that to ensure the materials were catalogued, prepared, and transferred in a safe and appropriate manner the date should be reviewed.  They also acknowledged that the Archive decant would be running alongside the Record Management operation and exit from Cheshire Lines building would be utilising the same resources.

It was considered that an achievable date of 31 March 2030 for decanting from Cheshire Lines would be appropriate and reduce the level of risk from both the Archives and Records Management perspectives. This approach also contributes to the controlled Record Review process, reduces potential longer-term costs, and supports the GDPR compliance requirements.

As a consequence, terms have been agreed with the landlord to remain in occupation of the basement until May 2030 on the terms set out in appendix 1.  In addition, appendix 1 also shows the cost comparison for vacating in 2030 as opposed to 2028.  Appendix 1 is exempt from publication pursuant to paragraph 3 of the part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Local Government Act 1972 (Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) because it contains or refers to information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

In addition, there are other services within the basement which will eventually need relocating.  The new lease term will provide some capacity to retain those services a while longer, or give options for other services, whilst moves are organised.

Monitoring for the preparation of the CLB ARM service decant is now under the responsibility of the DDaT Business Systems Manager, who is supporting the service. Monthly updates are provided against the long-term targets and are being, with resources targeting specific requirements along with other mitigating changes to how the service will operate during this period time.

Alternative options considered

The Council has explored a number of options for re-housing the archives and records management including purchasing facilities, utilising vacant properties within its ownership, off site provision and a combination of the above.  The proposed solution is a set out in the body of the report, with the detail still being worked.  The extension of the lease of the basement of Cheshire lines gives some more time to develop that detail, although it should be noted that it is very unlikely that the Council will be able to remain in occupation beyond May 2030.