By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottinghamshire County Council is closing eight of its offices over holiday periods in order to save the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds in running costs.
The authority said it will completely close almost two thirds of its offices over Christmas and Easter, including County Hall in West Bridgford, to save money on energy and running costs.
The potential cost reduction will be £75,340 based on closing the eight buildings for four weeks a year from Christmas 2022.
This is due to the expected ‘pause’ on electricity, gas, fuel, cleaning and rubbish collections.
The authority said heating and powering its buildings make up around a third of all county council carbon emissions.
“In previous years, it was not deemed appropriate or beneficial to close Council buildings. However, the climate emergency and budget pressures mean this action is now more advantageous than ever”, council documents stated.
The offices – County Hall, Chancery Lane, Lawn View House, Meadow House, Newark Touchdown, Thoresby House, Welbeck House and Beeston Central would be closed annually for two weeks at Christmas and two weeks at Easter.
Staff based at these buildings will work at alternative buildings or from home. A number of other council corporate buildings will remain open and council services will continue as normal.
The council undertook a consultation with staff and said there was “widespread support of the proposal” if services could continue effectively.Councillor Keith Girling, Cabinet Member for Economic Development said: “Most of our corporate offices have low occupancy during Christmas and Easter holiday periods as staff are more likely to take holiday at these times.“Due to the age and design of many of our buildings they cost as much to keep running for a small number of staff as they do when fully occupied, so these temporary closures are common sense, particularly in light of high energy costs.”Councillor Mike Adams, Environment Ambassador and Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, added: “We have a target to become a carbon neutral council by 2030.“Heating and powering our buildings make up around a third of all county council carbon emissions, and this decision will also help to reduce our impact on the environment .”
