Council faces £1m one-off cost to transform workplace after pandemic

CHANGES to the way Dorset Council staff work after the pandemic could add another £1 million to the workplace bill – but save much more than that in the longer term.

The authority has had around half of its workforce, around 2,500 people, working from home since midMarch.

It is now beginning to plan for a large number of staff to continue working from home, although, in some cases, the council may set up new offices for its frontline workers to be closer to the residents they serve.

A report to Cabinet on Tuesday says that to make the transformation, which will include making office spaces Covid safe, is expected to cost around £1 million.

It says the pandemic has accelerated a change in attitudes to where and how people work.

“This has brought about change at a rate that previously could not have been imagined, both in working practices and attitudes staff and managers held about working virtually.

“While it was already the council’s intention to adopt more agile working approaches, the Covid-19 response in relation to office-based workers has demonstrated the potential to go further, faster and at greater speed than was imagined,” says a report to councillors.

The upside of the change will be less staff travel and a reduced need for buildings, which can be leased to other organisations, or sold.

Business travel costs alone for staff are estimated at £2.5 million in a full year which is paid from the council tax, with additional costs to staff for commuting to and from their places of work.

The report says that the £1 million one-off cost will “cover the cost of reorganising office spaces to meet the new requirements, provide suitable equipment to maximise the benefit of these changes and to support managers and employees through the process of changing working practices.”

Councillors are being recommended to approve the cost on a ‘spend to save’ basis.