A NEW £3m council depot could be built in Bradford as part of a money-saving scheme, if council bosses give the go-ahead.

The depot would be built at Bowling Back Lane and would replace the authority's Shearbridge and Harris Street depots, as well as the Tramshed building on the Wakefield Road depot site.

The new site would bring together staff from the authority's parks department, waste and streetscene teams and staff who look after the council's fleet of vehicles.

According to a new report, the project would save the council £215,000 per year and would also raise a "significant" amount from the sell-off of the disused depots.

The project is part of the council's 10-year programme to reduce the number of buildings it works from and slash a multi-million pound repairs backlog.

The Property Programme, which is now in its sixth year, involves the authority pulling out of some buildings and renovating others.

It has saved £16.4 million in running costs, cut the maintenance backlog by £48 million and raised £31 million by selling off sites so far, the report by strategic director of regeneration Mike Cowlam reveals.

The latest projects which have been unveiled also include £140,000 to be spent on new laptops and mobile technology aimed at boosting flexible working.

The report says this will allow more staff to hot-desk, freeing up office space. Some sites could then be sold off, saving £720,000 over five years.

A total of £900,000 would be spent on the fourth phase of repairs to City Hall, which would finish off the work to the roof.

In Ilkley, £115,000 would be spent on a new boiler at Queens Hall.

And a leaking flat roof at Valley View children's residential home, in Lister Lane, Bradford, would be replaced at a cost of £198,000.

Outline plans to vacate the council's Jacobs Well office block, to allow it to be demolished to make way for a new privately-funded public sector hub, are also detailed.

Mr Cowlam's report says staff could be moved into Argus Chambers in Hall Ings, a building currently used by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

The report says: "Argus Chambers, adjoining Britannia House, is a freehold property that is being vacated by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund in 2015.

It is anticipated that refurbishing the building to increase capacity will form part of the solution to vacate Jacobs Well."

Another plan involves moving the district's two museum stores and selling off the current buildings, one of which is described as being "in very poor condition".

The investment proposals will go before the council's Executive on Tuesday, April 14.