Issue - meetings

A report from the Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR is attached.

Councillor Tahir Rafiq, Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR, presented the report which proposed the detail of the Agile Working Strategy, subject to a structured evaluation. It was noted that the agile working model would be subject to regular, structured review, with the first formal review taking place in December 2021. 

In response to a Member’s question, it was noted that the Corporate Landlord model was under development and was working to the same timescale as the first phase of Agile Working, that being December 2021. 

Decision:

That Cabinet endorses the roll out and evaluation of the agile model for all staff, as described in this report, from Stage 4 of the national roadmap out of lockdown, which is currently assumed to be 21 June 2021.

Reasons for the decision:

In October 2021 the Council’s Cabinet agreed to the principle of an agile working model for Bury town centre based office staff. The same decision was made for CCG staff by NHS Bury CCG Governing Body. The approval of the concept of agile working was given on the basis of:

·         harnessing the technology and new ways of working which evolved during the pandemic response

·         providing an opportunity to drive the productivity of the workforce; reduce costs; promote inclusion and further the ambition for carbon neutrality and

·         helping manage the risk of the poor condition of much of the Council’s office estate, including the reduction of available office space in the Town Hall by c50%

It is recognised that any change in the way that we work needs to be carefully managed and that there are complex issues across workforce, estate and technology to address.

Other options considered and rejected:

None; Agile working will be open for all staff subject to the requirements of their role, but there is a particular imperative within the Bury town centre sites where estate maintenance and social distancing adaptations have required significant reductions in estate footprint. Staff whose role is location dependant will continue to operate from their normal work place.