Uncertain future for Kirkcaldy council office as staff move out

Fife Council’s building at 3-5 Wemyssfield, which sits opposite the Town House, has been declared provisionally surplus to requirement.

It comes as the local authority reviews its vast estate in light of the impact of staff switching to hybrid operating or working from home.

Wemyssfield was home to occupational staff who have now moved to other council offices - and a decision on the future of the building will be made in the coming months.

It was one of the facilities highlighted in an annual audit of office usage which was presented to the report to a meeting of the economy and corporate services scrutiny committee on Thursday.

Alan Paul, head of property services, told councillors: “We are conscious it is not just an office but also provides a car park to support Town House activity.”

Ross Tulloch, lead professional in property services, added: "Occupational health staff who worked at Wemyssfield, have recently moved to other council offices. We'll make a decision on what to do with the property in the next few months."

The creation of a ‘work from home’culture has left the council with the challenge of what to do with offices now being used by as few as 15% of its workforce on some days - but much busier on others. It manages a £2.5billion network of 1700 buildings which is a “considerable cost” - and is now looking at a trial that could see offices closed on their least used days.

Mr Paul’s report said that office usage drops to as low as 15% on some days - typically Mondays and Fridays - but rises to 81% in midweek. A snapshot of how staff work showed an average weekly office usage in 2024 varied between 22% and 64%.

Now, councillors will consider a pilot based on reduced operating hours on the days buildings are least used. Some opening hours could also be cut to save money - energy bills and maintenance matters cost the council some £5 million a year.

Cutting hours to 8:00am-6:00pm - the current model is 7:00am-8:00pm - would chop 30% off running costs. Other possibilities include accommodating staff from several departments within community facilities, and leasing out office spare to third parties - in the past year it has accommodated additional staff from the NHS at Bankhead and Fife House, with some council worker using space at Lynebank Hospital in return, as well as Police Scotland, Nature Scot and the Forestry Commission.

The report said the council had “limited scope” to make large scale closures to its estate, but it has sold off some properties, with others now surplus to requirement.

Rothesay House in Glenrothes was demolished and the site cleared for future development, while work is on going to look at the future of the county buildings in Cupar which also have low occupancy.

Councillors were told the 2025 assessment of office usage has yet to take place, but Mr Paul said: “Previous counts confirmed that office attendance is typically lower on Mondays and Fridays with a peak on Wednesday. This pattern is replicated across many organisations with a hybrid working arrangement. In addition to under occupied facilities, there are a number of wholly unoccupied premises.

“Overall, the number of staff coming into offices has increased year on year - car parks are litmus test and they are increasingly full so you can see there is increased activity on some days.”