East Staffordshire Borough Council is on the cusp of spending £700,000 to fund its move back to Burton Town Hall – where its staff were based before moving just six years ago.

Cuts to council staff mean the authority no longer needs its Maltsters base, in Wetmore Road, Burton, which it moved to in 2011 in a bid to save £300,000 at the time.

If the authority moves it believes it will cost £692,364 which will include the refurbishment of the Planning Annexe and King Edward's room, and associated ICT costs of around £65,000.

The move will not include the 'newer' UTC part of the town hall, which it is believed will be taken over by The de Ferrers Academy .

The council's Cabinet has now approved its preferred option of returning to Burton Town Hall following an accommodation review triggered by estimated future budget pressures and a reduction in staff numbers over the last six years.

The council moved into the Maltsters in May 2011 and signed a 10 year lease agreement in August 2011. A break clause in the agreement, allowing the council to terminate this arrangement, was triggered in May 2016 effectively giving two years notice to vacate the premises.

East Staffordshire Borough Council's office staff have been based at The Maltsters since 2011
East Staffordshire Borough Council's office staff have been based at The Maltsters since 2011

A report to the Cabinet said the council needs to consider its position with regards to accommodation due to 'a change in the nature and size of services provided by the council, an opportunity to review and develop more efficient ways of working and delivering council service such as mobile and home working; and an opportunity to reduce accommodation costs and make cashable savings.'

Figures revealed there was 201.3 full-time equivalent (FTE) members of staff in 2010. In 2016 this has reduced to just 106.4.

The report said: "As can be seen, since 2010, teams with the Maltsters as a main base have reduced by 94.9 FTE's (-47.1 per cent)."

The council is also hoping to increase the number of staff working from home. The report said: "Their experiences of homeworking have been positive with improved processing times (as a result of reduced interruptions), a decreased level of absence due to sickness and also an increase in staff morale as tested by appraisals.

"Feedback showed that if homeworking is fully utilised this may reduce the number of estimated workstations required by up to 28 per cent."

The council also revealed it has considered remaining at the Maltsters with a smaller footprint but it would be forced to continue paying relatively high lease costs, with very little savings.

Another option was to redeploy staff across several council buildings including the market hall, cemetery office, and The Brewhouse arts centre.

While this option would mean no extra rental/lease charges, the report said: "It would however require investment into those buildings identified in order to accommodate the larger numbers of staff."

The older part of the town hall pictured before the addition of the UTC
The older part of the town hall pictured before the addition of the UTC

Revealing the preferred option of moving to the town hall, the report said: "The development of office space at the town hall will result in a financial saving in terms of the leasing and other costs currently being incurred by the council at the Maltsters. This option is essentially an 'invest to save' initiative, which will deliver ongoing savings to the revenue budget of £0.23 million per annum."

The council also revealed it is still paying £55,901.50 in 'empty' business rates for the town hall due to Valuation Office Agency (VOA) rules.

The report said: "If we moved back the charge would be exactly the same. There is therefore a saving to be made on the Business Rates we currently pay at the Maltsters which is £55,000."

Car parking will also be a factor after the 'newer' part of the town hall was sold to the UTC. The council retained approximately 57 car parking spaces to the rear of the building, but it currently occupies 80 spaces at the Maltsters at a cost of £13,500. The authority has now entered discussions with East Midland Trains about the possibility of leasing additional car parking spaces at the Railway Station car park behind the Midland Grain Warehouse.