Purpose

Approval of preferred HQ and Civic locations for West Surrey, including any interim arrangements required for Day 1 operation.

Decision

Resolved that

i)              Millmead House be approved as the preferred Day 1 Civic Headquarters for the new West Surrey Council;

ii)             the combined Woking and Victoria Gate be approved as the preferred Operational Headquarters for the new West Surrey Council;

iii)           progression of the preferred option into detailed implementation and mobilisation planning to support operational readiness for Vesting Day be approved;

iv)           authority be delegated to the Head of Paid Service, in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, Chief Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer, to approve any minor operational amendments necessary to implement the approved Day 1 accommodation arrangements, provided these do not materially alter the approved recommendation;

v)            a one-off budget of £200,000 be approved subject to a full procurement exercise for the project to be funded from the £900,000 West Surrey specific local authority fund subject to approval by the s151 officer;

vi)           the decision for the permanent civic and operational headquarters for West Surrey be reviewed within six months of Vesting Day; and

vii)          the review be undertaken as a co-production between residents, staff and Members and consider, but not be limited to, emerging working practices, the commercial property strategy, service delivery and staff working patterns.

Reason for Decision

Millmead House achieved the highest overall weighted score for the Civic Headquarters through the agreed options appraisal methodology, demonstrating the strongest overall fit against the agreed Day 1 assessment criteria.

Combined Woking BC and Victoria Gate is most suited to the Operational Headquarters scoring higher than Millmead and both Woking sites separately.

The recommended option provides suitable accommodation for both Civic and Operational Headquarters, supporting effective democratic governance and operational continuity from Vesting Day.

The recommended option represents the most deliverable and proportionate Day 1 solution whilst allowing the future authority to determine its longer-term corporate estate strategy following Vesting Day.