Highland Council moves ahead with bid to save £370K by moving out of Inverness Town House
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Highland Council has agreed proposals to move out of Inverness Town House with a full meeting of the local authority set to formalise or reject the move.
The council’s redesign board – established to streamline, reform and rationalise areas of council business – has just agreed proposals but they have to be accepted at the December meeting of council.
It means the 100 members of staff currently housed in the historic building would move to the council’s Glenurquhart Road headquarters.
It is expected that by moving out of the home of local government in the city since 1882 a saving of £370,000-a-year can be made – not insignificant in a time of financial crisis for the council.
But that would be a blow to the Inverness Common Good Fund which is the beneficiary of the current arrangement as not only will it lose revenue but would have to pick up the costs of maintaining the building.
According to the plan being put forward, from April 1 next year savings would be achieved by ceasing payment to the Common Good Fund which the council pays for office space, parking, utilities and maintenance at the town house.
Broken down, £200,000 is currently paid by the council for use of the building and £33,500 for the car park with utility and non-domestic rates costs on top of that, along with liability for maintenance, cleaning and facilities management.
The savings would contribute to an overall target of £1 million revenue savings as part of the council’s asset management plan which seeks to divest as many properties as possible to reduce operational costs and the council’s carbon footprint.
The Inverness Town House is an important venue for civic functions and hosts up to 300 events each year, ranging from public meetings, to dinners, weddings and roadshow events.
These civic events currently generate a profit for the Inverness Common Good Fund while Tours of the Town House have already been running successfully since 2018.
There was unhappiness from some councillors when city area committee meetings moved out of the town house but chairman of the redesign board, Councillor Bill Lobban, said: “The redesign board has been discussing these proposals for a considerable time and the imperative is now to get on and deliver the savings by reducing our office footprint across numerous council buildings.
“The town house savings proposed today will help to reduce our overhead costs, reduce our energy consumption and contribute to climate change targets, while allowing this iconic civic building to be better utilised.”
The proposal does not mean any change to the service point at the town house.
Housing and property committee chairwoman and the Provost of Inverness, Cllr Glynis Sinclair also backed the move.
She said: “Inverness Town House is no longer fit for modern office accommodation. Recent investment has helped to secure the heritage of the Town House for the future and the beautifully restored building is now an ideal venue for cultural activities and events.
“This will provide opportunities for income for the Common Good as well as increasing access to the public.”
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