Cambridgeshire County Council is looking to cut costs by closing some of its offices across the county.

Five offices have been highlighted to be closed or sold in a ‘first tranche’, which the authority hopes could save it around £888,000 a year.

Further offices have been identified to be closed at a later point, which the authority hopes will lead to an overall saving of around £2.2million a year.

Around 790 members of staff are expected to be impacted by the office closures, as the county council said it will help move them to other locations.

The plan was endorsed by councillors at a meeting of the assets and procurement committee this week (October 15).

The four properties proposed to be sold include Hereward Hall in March, Buttsgrove Centre in Huntingdon, Speke House in St Ives, and Stanton House in Huntingdon.

The county council is also planning to close Noble House in Ely, which it currently leases.

A report published by the authority said its offices are currently underutilised, with an average of less than 25 per cent occupancy across the working week.

The county council said it will relocate the staff members impacted by the closures to other offices, including at New Shire Hall in Alconbury, Ely Library, March Community Centre, and The Princess of Wales Hospital.

The authority is also proposing to spend £1.85million improving the offices it will keep.

Some councillors questioned whether staff being moved into libraries and community centres could negatively impact those services.

Councillor Mark Goldsack said he knew Ely Library and asked if creating new office space for council staff to work from there would “diminish” the services the library offered.

Councillor Steve Count asked a similar question about whether there would be an impact on March Community Centre.

Officers offered reassurance that the existing services would not be impacted by the plans.

Cllr Count said he ‘welcomed the general thrust of the report’, but raised some concerns about moving staff to work at Awdry House in Wisbech.

He said there was not much car parking and that it had an “incredibly poor bus service”.

Councillor Chris Boden said he also supported the plans, but said he would not comment on Hereward Hall, as he is a member of Fenland District Council, which has announced it is considering moving from Fenland Hall to Hereward Hall.

Cllr Boden did ask the leader of the county council to give further consideration as to whether Whittlesey Library should be used as a temporary office space as currently proposed, due to asbestos in the building.

Councillor Lucy Nethsingha, leader of the county council, said she was happy to follow up on this.