A ROW between Wiltshire councillors has been sparked by the spending of £1.39million by Wiltshire Council on new furniture for the revamped County Hall in Trowbridge. The money will be spent on new desks, chairs, storage cabinets, tables and refrigerators.
Wiltshire cllr Jon Hubbard, who raised the issue has questioned why the council is spending cash on new furniture for County Hall, while “irreplaceable” services such as Wiltshire Mind, which has a user group in Westbury, are to close due to lack of funding.
However, fellow Wiltshire cllr Jonathon Seed says that the spending is necessary for working practices, and describes cllr Hubbard’s criticism of spending as “ludicrously unbalanced and hypocritical.”
When cllr Hubbard raised the new furniture expenditure he said, “It is understood that the furniture from the old County Hall cannot be used because it ‘does not fit with the look and feel of the new design of County Hall’.”
David Jenkins, Wiltshire councillor for Westbury North said, “In the period that we’re in, it does seem to be an extraordinary amount of money. It seems incredible when there are other demands on money – Jon Hubbard mentions Wiltshire Mind, and there are other services in desperate need of cash.
“I know there’s a new office and they need new desks and chairs, but at the same time you’ve got to improvise and make certain steps in order to compromise and save money. An old chair and old desk is perfectly practical and serves the purpose!”
A spokesperson from Wiltshire Council said, “£1.39million is the projected spend for both phase one and two of the County Hall project, which provides furniture and equipment to facilitate new ways of flexible working of 2,000 staff across 1,000 workstations.
“In order for the council to make better use of its office space, more flexible working practices are being adopted. This has required new furniture in order to maximise the use of the new building.
“The new furniture layout maximises the office space available, whilst providing areas that enable staff to work and hold meetings in a different manner. This is supported by technology that enables staff to work remotely, at home and in any of the council’s offices in the county. The old furniture would not enable these flexible working principles to be applied, and significant amounts of furniture were well below a standard that would be acceptable to reuse in the new building.
“Furniture that has been replaced will be reused where it can be. There are some locations where this furniture is suitable and can be used.”
The revamped Country Hall has been completed within its budget of £24million.
In reply to cllr Jon Hubbard’s comments, fellow Wiltshire cllr Jonathon Seed said, “Conservatives are angry at the ludicrously unbalanced and hypocritical attacks made by Jon Hubbard on the County Hall refurbishments and the Mind charity tender issue.
“On the subject of County Hall refurbishment, Jon Hubbard was present at meetings of group leaders where the County Hall plans were discussed and where detail was presented and he made no objections to the plans or costs. The old office furniture is unsuitable for use in the new County Hall workplace where staff will not have their own desks but will log into communal workstations which require specialist furniture. This means that office space is only provided for 60% of staff whilst the rest are on leave, in meetings, on site or away from a desk. This modern system of working represents a massive saving in the provision of facility space.
“Yet again Jon Hubbard makes a headline grabbing statement which bears little relation to the facts. Consideration of the refurbishment of County Hall has to be taken as a whole and the project represents a massive saving in the provision of expensive facility space for staff. What Jon Hubbard conveniently fails to add is that he is the only group leader who has asked for extra public money to be spent on his Liberal group room with a demand for extra furniture and extra office facilities.”
