Council set to close 22 office sites
WEST Lothian Council is to sell the majority of its offices throughout the county in a bid to save money in the face of government budget cuts of £45 million over the next four years.
A ten-year strategy has the backing of the council executive to reduce office accommodation sites from 38 to 16 by 2017/18 to generate significant savings.
The plans would save the council around 1.5m a year in rent and running costs and could generate tens of millions through the sale of land.
Staff from surplus offices would move into the new 50m Civic Centre in Livingston, but the council say this would only happen if it can find ways of "flexible working" to house the extra workers there.
This could mean council staff changing to continental shifts and some working from home to free up desks in the centre.
If ways to accommodate workers in the Civic Centre are not found the sites would not be sold.
However, opposition Labour leader Graeme Morrice believes the plans could cause problems for staff.
He said: "This current SNP council are hell bent on cutting jobs and services and now they are removing office accommodation from our hard working staff.
"Yet they can find money for the Tory Provost's hospitality marquee and in sending SNP and Action to Save St John's Hospital councillors to junkets all over the world."
Selling its offices is just one strategy the council is looking at to create savings, but it is staying tight-lipped on what services and jobs will be affected.
Council leader Peter Johnston has promised the council is working to minimise the effects the cuts will have on jobs and services.
He added: "As with all public sector providers we are facing a very difficult financial future.
"It is too early to announce details on our future spending plans. However, it is our aim to continue to freeze council tax next year.
"We believe that by freezing council tax for a third consecutive year, families and pensioners will have more cash in their pockets.
"There will be very difficult decisions required on service priorities to ensure we maintain sound finances in the constrained financial climate in the years ahead.
"However, West Lothian Council operates from a sound financial base and we are working hard to make efficiency savings, which we can invest to protect our front line services.
"We believe that future budget reductions will be deeper and we are working to reduce the number of properties we own. We are also looking at new ways of working, such as mobile working, to help create a new more streamlined service.
"We will continue to work with public sector partners to provide best value for the public pound and focus on priority needs.
"Key to this is a closer working relationship at a local level with our partners, which will be improved by joining together under one roof in the new West Lothian Civic Centre.
"Through integrated working with partners such as police and health, we can create a public sector for the future, which is more efficient and delivers services at a lower cost."
Sites deemed as surplus to requirements under the plan include: Lindsay House, Bathgate's trading standards office, library, Advice Shop, community centre and adult training centre, Lammermuir House, Sheil House, West Lothian House, Lomond House, Lennox House, Cheviot House, Connolly House, Whitehill House, Strathbrock Partnership Centre, Fauldhouse Partnership Centre, Sure Start offices, and waste service buildings at Guildyhaugh Depot, Waverley Street Depot, Eagle Brae Depot, Deans Depot and Community Transport Depot.
Lindsay House in Bathgate will be demolished and redeveloped to become the Bathgate Partnership Centre; West Lothian House is surplus and will be available for sale by the end of this year, as will Lammermuir House.
Staff will be co-located in the Fauldhouse Partnership Centre from the town's current area office, which will also be sold.
Under the new proposals the trading standards office in Bathgate will be sold and employees moved to the County Buildings in Linlithgow, while Cheviot House in Livingston will also go on sale with staff moving in to the former courthouse building.
Staff based in the Sure Start offices will also move in to the old court building to save money on the council's present lease.
Staff from Bathgate's Advice Shop, adult training centre and Connolly House (Blackburn) will move to the Bathgate Partnership Centre in early 2011, as will Bathgate Library and community centre.
Connolly House, the community centre and library will be sold and the leases for the training centre and Advice Shop will not be renewed.
Lomond House in Livingston is to be sold and available for sale in early 2012 along with the combined land at the Lammermuir, Cheviot and Lomond sites.
The Lennox House lease in Livingston will not be renewed in early 2012, with staff going to the Civic Centre, bringing staff numbers at Civic Centre to 788.
Waste services staff from Whitehill House, Guildyhaugh Depot, Waverley Street Depot, Eagle Brae Depot, Deans Depot and Community Transport Depot will also co-locate to the Superdepot in Caputhall in Livingston.
The Guildyhaugh, Waverley Street, Eagle Brae, Deans and community transport depots will be declared surplus and sold, and the lease at Carmondean House will not be renewed.
The site will be returned to the council's commercial portfolio as a
revenue-producing asset.
Staff from the courthouse building in Livingston will move to the Civic Centre in early 2016 when the lease expires bringing the total number of staff there to 850.
The lease on St David House in Bathgate will not be renewed in 2017 with staff moving to Civic Centre bringing the total amount of staff to 1,000.
The Civic Centre is thought to be the biggest partnership of its kind in the UK and is home to West Lothian's police headquarters, Sheriff and Justice of the Peace court complex, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Children's Reporter administration, Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service and West Lothian Community Health and Care Partnership.
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Monday 21 May 2012
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