Agenda item

The Committee received a presentation from Stephan Van Arendsen, Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services on “New Ways of Working”.

Mr. Van Arendsen highlighted the following as part of his presentation:

·        Phase 1 relating to asset maximisation, locality working and ICT transformation was completed in 2017 to 2019 which enabled the start of agile working; Phase 2 was ongoing to further develop agile working arrangements to support business need and health and wellbeing of staff, to take account of changes arising from pandemic and to rationalise buildings to further deliver budget savings; and Phase 3 regarding the longer term review of Bootle estate linked to Bootle Town Hall, Strand and the lease on Magdalen House for the period 2022 -2032

·        Regarding the move to Phase 2 the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the Council into new ways of working and the need to think differently about the way in which the Council operated; and information was provided on the current agile working arrangements, the significant further Investment in ICT infrastructure, employees embracing the  change in a challenging environment and how the Council’s change in the way it used buildings with reduced occupation and COVID-19 related measures in place

·        In respect of what Phase 2 would look like information was provided on new ways of working to reduce the building footprint and which linked back to the Asset Management and Climate Change Strategies; Carbon savings to be achieved through reduced electricity and gas consumption in buildings; accommodation issues; investment made in ICT kit and licensing to allow staff to work in a more agile way; new ways of working and a review of HR policies and ICT solutions; and the savings that would be generated through the new ways of working model

·        To take Phase 2 forward there would be full and continual engagement with Trade Unions; a review of HR policies and ICT solutions;  investment in home kit and individual health and safety risk assessments; for office workers that the data centre footprint requirement would be reduced as Council ICT servers and applications would be moved to the cloud; and that there would be a link to culture and performance management as part of the Council’s 2023 work

·        In conclusion there were a number of dependencies and requirements in order to successfully deliver the complex project, but the Council did ultimately see many benefits arising from the introduction of the new ways of working model, the main one being service delivery to the residents of Sefton   

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:

·        HR management of potential musculoskeletal and mental health issues associated with long-term home working; the display screen equipment assessments undertaken as part of the corporate health and safety regime; health and safety meetings with trades unions; and how managers would engage with staff via one to ones to gauge their views on home or hybrid working

·        the potential for public facing staff to work from home occasionally to perform administrative tasks and how this could be facilitated whilst ensuring that business needs of the authority were maintained

·        the welcomed reductions in the Council’s carbon footprint connected with reduction of the data centre footprint requirement as Council ICT servers and applications were moved to the cloud 

·        any model of new ways of working should have the primary objective of meeting the business needs of the council to provide the best service possible to the public

RESOLVED: That