Future working arrangements for Shropshire Council staff and councillors

Shirehall in Shrewsbury

The pandemic saw a fundamental change in the way that Shropshire Council staff have been working, with most working at home or away from the office over the past two years.

We have now agreed that ‘remote working’ will continue to be the primary option for those staff who are not in front-line or public-facing roles – meaning that most of their work will continue to be completed away from a council building.

There will of course be exceptions to this, as some roles and occasions require physical presence in a council building or service. 

As we’ve previously stated, we are planning to leave Shirehall and move to a new council office and multi-agency hub as part of the Shrewsbury town centre regeneration scheme.

After exploring a number of options, it has now been decided we will continue to use Shirehall until the new hub is ready,

Office hubs will also continue to be available for staff and councillors to use in other areas of the county, providing desks/office space outside of Shrewsbury for staff who require it.

This autumn we will make some small improvements to our office accommodation to better meet the needs of staff who use the buildings occasionally for specific purposes and for those who are more frequent users – as well as the needs of councillors.

With fewer staff using Shirehall less space is required and only the ground, first and second floors are now available to use. This will also lead to significant savings in the cost of heating and lighting the building.

And we’ll shortly be completing fire safety work at Shirehall to ensure that the building remains fit and safe for staff, councillors and visitors.