Matlock public services reshuffle could see library move to town hall

A Derbyshire council could rent out more than half of its headquarters to other public services in a bid to save more than £3.5 million. Derbyshire Dales District Council is looking at the future use of its headquarters in Matlock Town Hall and has found it could save £3.55 million over 20 years if it rented out half of the site to other services, including the library and adult education centre.

The reshuffle is housed under the One Public Estate programme which seeks to streamline the number of buildings used by public services and a move towards “one-stop-shop” premises. Matlock Town Hall already houses the Citizens Advice Bureau, Rural Action Derbyshire and Age UK – along with the district council.

The district council takes up 91 per cent of the town hall but could reduce this to 48 per cent under one of two options for streamlining public money spent on properties which are in some cases, including the headquarters site, too large for their current use due to hybrid working. One option is to have other services move into the town hall, but not the library, to save £2.3 million and have the district council occupy 57 per cent of the premises – at a cost of £1.38 million.

The second option is to occupy 48 per cent, have the library move in, along with other services, and save up to £3.55 million – at a cost of £1.32 million. A report on the issue details that the district council itself spiked plans to move its services into County Hall, home of Derbyshire County Council.

A “variant” involving the shared use of the democratic facilities at County Hall, specifically the chambers and committee rooms, by the county and district councils was recommended but rejected by the district authority. Plans to redevelop the County Hall site into a hotel and other mixed uses – costing £73 million – are currently proceeding, with the county council to move into a smaller £34 million headquarters to be built elsewhere in the grounds.

The One Public Estate plan for Matlock looked at the town hall; County Hall; Derbyshire Police station base in Bank Road; the Imperial Rooms; Lime Grove GP Surgery in Lime Grove Walk; Imperial Road GP Surgery; Matlock Library in Steep Turnpike; adult education centre, also in Steep Turnpike; and Shand House off the A6 in Darley Dale. It found that: “The offices of Derbyshire County Council and to a lesser extent, the district council are larger than required in large part due to the introduction of hybrid working arrangements.

“Several buildings are not fit for purpose in terms of their configuration, layout, condition and/or energy efficiency. Various buildings (or sites) have significant alternative use values e.g. Shand House, the library and County Hall

“Democratic function facilities are duplicated across County Hall and the Town Hall. The Imperial Road surgery is at capacity and requires additional consulting rooms.

“Public access to and/or within some public-facing buildings is constrained e.g. library and adult education centre.” Partners involved in the reshuffle supported slimming down the services to two sites:

• The commercial redevelopment and intensification of use of the County Hall site, and the relocation of the occupiers of DCC’s Shand House
• The remodelling of the Town Hall as a hub to accommodate the library, adult education centre, and potentially health and wellbeing partners

A district council report on the issues, which are set to go to public consultation, details: “The Matlock Locality Review presents an opportunity for the district council to consider how it wishes to utilise the town hall accommodation in the future. As with many organisations, the establishment of hybrid working arrangements has created opportunities to review the utilisation of our accommodation which has the potential to deliver efficiencies of scale and optimise the utilisation of vacant or under-utilised space whilst also delivering long-term savings.

“However, this needs to be balanced against the immediate costs, short-term impacts and long-term benefits over a reasonable period of time. There is currently much uncertainty around the future funding and potential structure of local government organisations in the future.

“Whilst there are many benefits to be realised for the employer and the employee of operating hybrid working arrangements, a move towards a permanent hybrid workforce poses operational challenges and will change the culture of the organisation.”

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