Issue - meetings

This report is due to be pre-scrutinised at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee scheduled to take palce on 25^th July 2024.  Any recommendations arising from that meeting will be published in a supplementary pack for the consideration of the Executive Committee.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer presented an update report on the Town Hall Hub.

Members were reminded that two years’ previously, following the closure of the cashiers at the Town Hall, the decision had been taken to introduce a community hub in the Town Hall.  Some work had been undertaken in liaison with partner organisations, including Worcestershire County Council and their library subtenants, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), as well as the NHS to explore potential options for use of space in the community hub.  The NHS had entered into a 15-year deal with the Council to lease two floors in the building and a new entrance had been introduced for the use of the NHS.  In March 2024, final lease terms had been agreed with Worcestershire County Council, which would have involved the move of the library in the town centre into the community hub.

As part of the works on the introduction of a new community hub, a contractor had been appointed and design works had been completed up to RIBA Stage 4.  The financial costs associated with works on the community hub had increased at RIBA Stage 4, however, this was not unusual at this point in the process and these costs could be offset by income.

Following the local elections in May 2024, Officers had been asked to review options available for the community hub that would not involve moving the library into the building from its existing location in the town centre.  Members were asked to note that if the library did not relocate into the community hub, the DWP, which was the library’s subtenant, would also not be able to move into the building at this time, as they had a contractual agreement in place with Worcestershire County Council until 2028.

The financial costs involved in delivering the project had been reviewed.  A lot of the original financial outlay that had been envisaged for the project was allocated to expenditure on a new entrance and stairway in the building.  Officers were proposing that these should no longer be included in the designs in order to help reduce costs.  The floor plans for the community hub had also been reviewed, in light of the new administration’s requirements and as part of this process it was suggested that the civic suite should be retained on the ground floor of the building, rather than being moved to the second floor as originally proposed.  The remaining floors would be a mixture of office space used by Council staff and space leased to other organisations, including the space already allocated to the NHS.  Members were asked to note that property agents Savills and GJS Dillon had advised that there was a dearth of high-quality office space in Redditch and the community hub could provide an attractive office space option in that context.

The Executive Committee was informed that, regardless of the final plans, there was a need to strip out the existing Town Hall  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20