Councillors decided last night to put a halt to the refurbishment project planned for the Mildenhall offices, pending the outcome of the Local Government Review (LGR).

The extraordinary meeting was prompted by the Project Board after increasing concern about the conflict between the timescales of the Local Government Review and those for the project specification and costings.  The current uncertainty around the future structure of local government in the county changed the context of the office refurbishment objectives as the future service and usage requirements of the building were now unknown.  At the meeting last night, members made a unanimous decision to halt the works because this uncertainty meant that an accurate specification of works at this stage would be difficult.  However, members stressed that they still want to make improvements to working conditions for staff to support their delivery of quality services and agreed work on routine repairs and maintenance.

Cllr Geoffrey Jaggard, Leader of the Council, says: “We have decided to halt the project because of the uncertainty that has been posed by the Local Government Review as it’s now unclear how the building will be used in the future.  However, we will be fighting to retain a significant base here in Mildenhall for the local delivery of public services irrespective of the outcome of the LGR.  In the meantime, we are keen to undertake important maintenance work and to meet staff requirements for an improved working environment.”

Cllr Jaggard adds: “We fully support the needs of our staff and we want to make sure that they have the facilities and tools they need to carry out their jobs efficiently.  The results of our surveys will be very useful in directing the physical changes we will make and we will also be looking at changes to working conditions that were raised during consultation.”