Northumberland council staff to be relocated into County Hall in bid to save cash

Staff will be consolidated into County Hall in Morpeth and Eddie Ferguson House in Blyth.

It is estimated that around £620,000 will be saved by the move, with the empty buildings being either re-purposed or sold off.

Staff at Northumbria House in Cramlington, Foundry House in Bedlington, Compass House in Blyth and Blyth Civic Centre will all be moved.

The changes are taking place as part of the ongoing BEST programme to cut costs and make the council more efficient.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the council’s cabinet, portfolio holder for corporate services Coun Wojciech Ploszaj explained: “There are many under-utilised properties, mainly in the south east. We are looking at how we can use them better, put them on the market or find a better use for them.

“We would look to save about £620,000 on maintenance of these buildings, heating and utilities etc. This will be achieved by relocating staff to county hall and Eddie Ferguson House in Blyth.

“Staff have been consulted and we have done analysis on desk capacity in all of these properties. We know we can accommodate them.”

He added: “All of this is good news. We will look to do a second phase of this project in the next couple of weeks.

“We need to decide what we would like to do with them. We may sell them or use them for adult social care or children’s services. We will find a use but that will be a bigger exercise which we are doing right now, and we will publish the outcomes soon.”

The council is currently facing an overspend in its budget of more than £6.77 million – mostly driven by deficits in children’s services and adult social care.

Council leader Glen Sanderson added: “We are becoming more efficient. We will welcome all the new people that will come to County Hall – it’s a fine building with some space that will now be taken.”