Renfrewshire Council

Renfrewshire House moves

As we look to maximise the usage of Renfrewshire House, a number of teams have relocated in the past few months, and we've also welcomed some new arrivals.

Procurement colleagues have moved to the second floor south and now sit with their Finance and Resources colleagues, many of whom they work with daily.

The Purchase to Pay Programme team have moved into a dedicated space that was previously freed up at the front of the fifth floor north and are now able to collaborate and look to deliver the project in this space.

We also welcomed the team working on the new Renfrew Bridge project, who will be based on second floor south, until their new home onsite at the bridge is available in the coming months.

Social Security Scotland who had a small number of desks on the fifth floor north have moved out, and these desks (along with the Procurement move) will free up space and allow desks to be used by the newly formed Housing System Replacement Project team.

The Care Inspectorate, based on first floor south, have informed us that they will be moving out of the space, and they expect to complete the move by April 2025.

We are also in conversation with other council teams and partner organisations about relocating to Renfrewshire House, and we will provide you with an update if and when agreement is reached.

Meeting Rooms

We understand that on certain days, finding a meeting room on your floor may be challenging, and we are working to identify and create additional meeting space wherever possible.

In the meantime, if you are looking for meeting space, we would encourage you to look out with your own floor and make use of the meetings rooms and breakout spaces across the building, many of which are under used and readily available. Screens have previously been placed at breakout areas to facilitate meetings - please do not remove wiring from these areas.

We have recently installed two double pods on second floor north, to compliment the in-situ pod we built earlier this year, and while service delivery colleagues have priority, these are available if not in use by the team.

We are also in the process of increasing the capacity of some of our meeting rooms and will be replacing the maximum usage signs with recommended usage signs in the coming weeks.

Working in Office

As we welcome more teams and colleagues into Renfrewshire House, can you please be mindful of your surroundings.

This includes leaving meeting rooms and desks clean and tidy, and being considerate of your colleagues when having conversations, and using noise cancelling headphones for Microsoft Teams meetings.

To support our new hybrid ways of working, we will shortly be looking to appoint New Ways of Working champions on each floor throughout the building. Once in place you can report any faults or issues to them (repairs, printers, confidential waste etc), and they will inform the necessary teams to arrange any work or repairs as required.

In the meantime, you should report any faults on your floor to camisalerts@renfrewshire.gov.uk or contact 0300 300 0223.

Fire Separation Works

We will be carrying out Fire Compartment Improvement works across Renfrewshire House in the coming months.

This involves subdividing the building into different areas or 'compartments' to slow down the spread of fire and smoke.

To prepare for the works we will be running a trial on fifth floor w/c 4 November to understand the time it will take to complete the works.

All colleagues will be asked to work from home or an alternative floor for the duration of the week. There will be no access to lockers, storage space, meeting rooms or breakout areas, so colleagues will be asked to move or re-schedule any meetings, and remove any documents required in advance.

This will then be rolled out across the building, and we will be in touch with teams in the coming weeks with details of when we will be completing the works on your floor.

Car park update

Discussions are ongoing with the Trade Unions about the introduction of a car parking permit scheme, and we'll keep you informed as they progress. In the meantime, entry to the car park at Renfrewshire House will continue to be on a first-come, first-served basis.

When you enter the car park you will notice we have installed a Loading Bay on the left-hand side of the entrance (at the Annexe), to provide easy access to their store and equipment rooms for our HSCP and ICT colleagues. Although there is plenty of room, colleagues should be mindful when passing this, as vehicles may be coming in or out of the space.

Abbey Place resident car park

Despite repeated requests we continue to receive complaints from residents of Abbey Place about council employees parking in the resident's car park when Renfrewshire House car park is full.

The residents and factors are looking to engage with a private parking company to start issuing penalty charge notices and should employees continue to park there, disciplinary action may be considered.

If Renfrewshire House car park is full, alternative parking is available at Saucel Crescent car park. It's just a short walk away and for the time being, parking here (Monday to Friday) is free of charge for all council employees. Full details are available on our Working at Renfrewshire House webpage.

Quiet Room

We also wanted to highlight that we've turned the room on third floor north (first door on your right as you go through the door) into a Prayer Room for colleagues of all faiths or no faith. This room is locked and cannot be used for meetings, but is for religious observance, meditation, and reflection. If you require access please contact Lynne Tervit, assistant facilities manager at lynne.tervit@renfrewshire.gov.uk to discuss.

And finally

We are working with local charities, including the Qalam Academy based at the old Kersland School in Paisley, to provide them with surplus office furniture and equipment, such as old desks and chairs.

If any teams or services require any additional desks or chairs, please contact Alan Gibson on alan.gibson@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

Published Tuesday 15 October 2024