TORFAEN council has revealed plans to move staff out of four buildings and relocate office workers to the Civic Centre in Pontypool.

As part of the plans, the Civic Centre will benefit from a refurbishment to cope with a future blended working model, which will see council staff working from both the office and home.

A report on the proposal says the council mainly utilises three buildings for corporate work – the Civic Centre, Pontypool police Station and Ty Blaen.

The lease for Pontypool Police Station expires in August and the council does not plan to renew it. Staff based at the police station will have to be relocated elsewhere.

As part of the plan, many of the council’s services, including storage for play service, youth service, sports development and housing would be centralised at Ty Blaen.

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The majority of staff at Ty Blaen would be relocated to the Civic Centre.

The move to homeworking due to the coronavirus pandemic has also played a part in the plans to reorganise the council’s buildings.

If the plans are approved, then both the ground and first floor office space of the Civic Centre would be re-designed to accommodate the proposed changes.

The report says: “The changes at the Civic Centre will take place floor by floor.

“This is expected to be completed by 31 January 2022, the last step being relocation of staff from Ty Blaen to level three (of the Civic Centre).

“In turn the changes at Ty Blaen will follow and are expected to be completed by 30 June 2022, the last step being relocation of play services staff from Abersychan to Ty Blaen.”

The decision not to renew the lease of Pontypool Police Station will save the council £50,000, which will help cover the capital costs. The remaining capital budget for the reorganisation and refurbishment is around £450,000, which will come from council borrowing.

A final decision will be made on Tuesday by the council’s cabinet.