Last week (Friday 31 January) the county council, working in partnership with Sellafield Ltd, agreed a 10 year lease with Sellafield for part of the council’s West Cumbria House offices at Lillyhall.
The move will see approximately 200 staff relocated from the main Sellafield site to the West Cumbria House offices.
The agreement will provide a significant rental income to the council and share the running costs of the building. It will also facilitate a reduction in traffic and congestion of vehicles entering and leaving the main Sellafield site.
Sellafield will carry out a programme of works to the office space they will occupy, and this is expected to be completed by the end of May this year, with the 200 members of Sellafield staff moving in to West Cumbria House shortly afterwards. The council will also carry out improvements to their offices and increase car parking capacity at the site.
The project will help to deliver the county council’s Better Places for Work programme in West Cumbria – a key aspect of the council’s modernisation programme to transform offices and increase efficiency across the organisation.
The move also supports the national public sector ‘One Public Estate’ programme, led by the Local Government Association, which aims to bring back-office teams together to generate increased efficiency and encourage partnership working. Having two large organisations sharing an office space helps to drive further partnership working, and the associated savings and efficiencies that come with key local partners co-locating.
Cllr David Southward, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Property, said: “This is a fantastic example of working in partnership with Sellafield and will help reduce congestion at the Sellafield site, whilst also providing a fantastic new premises for the staff relocating to West Cumbria House. It will also provide a boost to the local economy at Lillyhall and the surrounding area with the arrival of an additional 200 people. I’d like to say thank you to everyone involved for their efforts in making this project a success and we look forward to sharing office space with Sellafield at West Cumbria House later this year.”
Cllr Alan Barry, Chair of Cumbria County Council’s Local Committee for Allerdale, said: “This is brilliant news for Allerdale, the district will benefit hugely from 200 Sellafield jobs and also presents a fantastic opportunity for us to build on this partnership working, whilst maximising the use and efficiency of our office spaces. I know a lot of hard work has gone in to this project, which is a fantastic opportunity for both Sellafield and the county council, and I’m sure that the Sellafield teams moving to West Cumbria House will receive a very warm welcome.”
Jamie Reed, head of corporate affairs at Sellafield Ltd, said: “Moving people off the Sellafield site frees up valuable space for decommissioning so that we can make Sellafield safer, sooner and reduce the number of vehicles on the roads.
“Crucially, this also stimulates economic activity in our towns and makes employment opportunities more accessible for people in our local communities.
“This ensures we’re generating the maximum social impact for our area from the Sellafield mission.”