Council to cut costs with new £1m base

A £1.4m scheme to build a new base in the city’s Acomb district is expected to be given the go-ahead by senior members on the executive.

The new offices, which are earmarked for a site next to Acomb library, will replace the council’s existing base off Carr Lane, which is currently leased and used to oversee the authority’s housing stock in the west of York.

However, the decision to push ahead with the proposals has been criticised by opposition Labour councillors, who claimed the scheme should be put on hold while the authority has to make £21m in cuts in the next financial year.

Labour leader James Alexander said: “The new £1.4m second office cannot be justified in the current economic climate and our alternative budget will save essential services in the community – not save Liberal Democrat plans for new buildings and bureaucracy.”

But council leader Andrew Waller stressed that the Acomb scheme is already in the authority’s capital expenditure programme and claimed it will save money in the long run.

He added: “This is part of a wider programme of efficiencies aimed at saving the council millions of pounds in rent payments. By building our own offices in Acomb, we can replace the existing base which is leased. The investment will provide us with a significant saving in the long-term.”

Work is already under way on a new council headquarters at West Offices, which were built in the 1840s as York’s original railway station and hotel. Centralising the council’s operations is due to bring savings of about £17m during the next 25 years.

If the plans are approved, work on the new Acomb base is expected to begin early next year.