THE cash-strapped Monmouthshire County Council, which at the moment shares offices at Cwmbran with the Torfaen authority, is looking to build a new £20m central office complex.

Councillors and officers have already said sites in Usk and Raglan were being considered for the new complex, to the anger of people living in Monmouth, who claim their town is once again being ignored by Shire Hall chiefs.

The new offices proposal comes despite repeated statements that the County Council is desperately short of cash.

Indeed, in February of last year, The Beacon reported that the authority was facing a financial crisis and that across the board cuts were having to be made in staff and services.

Former Council Leader, Andrew Crump said: "Wherever you put the new Headquarters it's going to be inconvenient and inaccessible to a large percentage of the county's population so I suppose placing it geographically in the centre of the county is probably the most sensible. "

Mr Crump (pictured right) pointed out that back in 1992/93 the County had earmarked land at the rear of St Cadoc's Court, in Raglan, later developed for housing, as a possible site for a new Headquarters.

"But I would now have some difficulty in supporting any suggeston about it coming to Raglan," he said. √

Colin Berg, Chief Executive, said: "Monmouthshire County Council is continuing to work with Torfaen County Borough Council to vacate County Hall towards the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012. 

"In the meantime Monmouthshire has begun to adopt a more modern style of working that will reduce the amount of office space required. 

"Agile working" will create the flexibility to meet peoples' needs better.   As a result we will give our customers a better service, both in quality and its availability; we will give our staff more control over when and where they work; we will have reduced our carbon footprint in a big way; and we will spend less on the running costs of the Council.

"By adopting this way of working in all office buildings we are aiming to require 30% less office accommodation by the end of 2010, and 50% less by the end of 2015. 

"Therefore when County Hall is vacated, instead of needing a building with 850 work spaces, we will need less than 590.  By 2015 we will only need 450 work spaces to replace the 850 in County Hall. 

"Therefore the Council has agreed to procure a replacement building for County Hall that will provide for our planned needs for 2015 onwards.  In the short-term between 2012 and 2015 there may be the need to lease a small amount of office space."

Quoting news reports over the weekend which exposed Monmouthshire County Council as being the worst-performing local authority in Wales for paying its bills, Labour Parliamentary Candidate Hamish Sandison has demanded an urgent meeting with Council Leader Peter Fox to find out what the Council is doing to improve its performance. Figures released by the Welsh Assembly Finance Committee on Saturday showed that MCC pay only 40% of its undisputed bills within the 30 day target, against a Welsh average of 87%.

"At a time when small businesses in Monmouthshire are facing serious cash flow problems," Mr Sandison said, "it is nothing short of a scandal that MCC is at the bottom of the Welsh league table for paying its bills within the 30 day target. This is causing real and avoidable hardship to small businesses throughout Monmouthshire. If Pembrokeshire can pay 98% of its bills within 30 days, why can't Monmouthshire?"

"This report demonstrates not only the financial incompetence of the Tory-run Council, but also their hypocrisy," he said. "Last week, the Welsh Tories called on Councils to cut the time it takes to settle their bills with private sector suppliers, suggesting a target of 10 days. Yet here in Monmouthshire, where the Tories are in control, they preside over the worst performing local authority in Wales – unable to meet even the current 30 day target in 60% of undisputed invoices. Despite their fine words, what this shows is that the Tories cannot be trusted to protect the very people they claim to care about."

Mr Sandison added: "I will be seeking an urgent meeting with Counc Fox to demand an explanation for this pathetic under-performance and to secure immediate action by the Council to ensure that bills are paid to our hard-pressed small businesses on time."

Meanwhile, Gary Whitcombe, chairman of the Electors Community Group, said he was concerned about the plan for the new offices.

"We are all wondering where the money is going to come from for the new complex" he said. "We certainly hope the council isn't going to go into debt, which council taxpayers will be paying for years, to provide the new offices".