News / North Ness move will force SIC jobs dispersal
SHETLAND Islands Council’s decision to move their corporate headquarters to Lerwick’s North Ness next year will force a major dispersal of local government jobs outside of the town, according to chief executive Alistair Buchan.
The new £6 million office block under construction beside the Mareel cinema and music venue is being rethought to accommodate far more people than the 140 education and social care staff it was originally designed for.
Employees currently scattered throughout Lerwick will be shifted to the new HQ, releasing a large number of valuable properties onto the market, including historic Hayfield House and Quendale House.
The money raised will help create new offices in rural Shetland to allow people living outside town to work closer to home, possibly alongside other public sector organisations.
Mr Buchan explained: “Since we agreed to reorganise the council it doesn’t make sense for departments to be working in isolation.
“We have yet to determine the exact allocation of office accommodation at North Ness, but there will be a presence there from several departments of the council.
“And by focussing our operation we will get rid of a lot of property scattered all over Lerwick. This will force job dispersal because we will be limiting the number of people we have at the centre and other people will be working from all over Shetland.”
Jobs dispersal has long been council policy and was a commitment from Mr Buchan when he took on the job of improving the SIC last year following criticism by local government watchdog The Accounts Commission.
He said councillors still had to debate the issue, but they were already looking at creating centres throughout the islands and surveying staff to find out where they live and how much work they could do outside Lerwick.
A “pragmatic approach” was needed, not an “artificial relocation”, such as the move of Scottish Natural Heritage headquarters to Inverness, he said, adding that he does not favour people working from home and councillors would still meet at Lerwick Town Hall.
As well as raising cash from the property sales, money will be saved from more efficient use of resources, with departments sharing facilities such as photocopying, clerical and IT support.
“We would achieve significant one off savings from the sale of buildings, which we would hope to use to support decentralising work and any adjustments to North Ness, but we would also hope to achieve significant ongoing revenue savings on things like heating and building maintenance.”
The North Ness complex is due for completion in March and will be rented to the council by the property arm of Shetland Charitable Trust, SLAP.
Meanwhile Mr Buchan said that he “entirely supported” a call from the council trade unions for a public debate on the future of the local authority as it imposes 20 per cent cuts on expenditure.
Council staff are worrying about their future when job losses amongst senior managers percolate down through the ranks, while community dissent is simmering over service cuts, notably in education.
On Tuesday Unison branch chairman Brian Smith called for a community-wide debate on spending priorities, warning the council was threatening to tip the economy into depression while wasting money on consultants.
Responding, the chief executive said councillors were already talking about going out to public consultation on next year’s budget, which is looking for cuts of up to £18 million on top of this year’s £9.5 million.
He acknowledged these were difficult times for council employees, but denied that money spent on consultants was wasted or that the council was cutting “too far, too fast”.
Mr Buchan said: “I believe we are working hard to maintain a good industrial relations climate within the SIC and we will continue to do so, however when you look at the scale of the budget deficit we are having to move fast.
“I didn’t come into this job to reduce services or to put people’s jobs at risk. Despite the way this is being portrayed, I am committed to doing this in as supportive and sensitive a way as possible.
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