A Senedd member says the Welsh Government’s headquarters in North Wales should be partially converted into a business hub as the pandemic has left many civil servants still based at home.
The Llandudno Junction HQ was built in 2010 and housed up to 500 workers prior to the Covid crisis.
But with Welsh Government’s work at home directive still in place there are still only a small number of staff going in on a daily basis.
The Government has also said its long term intention is for more workers in Wales to work from home.
This has seen Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders MS urge the First Minister to undertake a review on whether the space could be partially converted to become a flexible working hub for entrepreneurs.
She said Mark Drakeford appeared to support undertaking such a review.
Mrs Finch-Saunders said: “Whilst Policy 30 of the Net-Zero Wales Carbon Budget 2 reiterates the Welsh Government’s long-term ambition to enable around 30% of Welsh workers to work remotely beyond Covid-19, I was most alarmed that little provision has been publicly proposed for the North Wales region.
“In a recent Freedom of Information reply, the Welsh Government detailed that, although just over 390 people are presently contracted to work at the Welsh Government office in Llandudno Junction, the average daily attendance level for September was recorded as 18 people.
“With a wish to see taxpayers’ money used wisely, and in recognising that around £23 million was spent on the Llandudno Junction building initially, I have constructively urged the First Minister to carry out a review to see if this building could be partially converted into a flexible working hub for small businesses and entrepreneurs in North Wales. I was delighted that this was warmly received.”
