Telereal Trillium report: Govt could make further £4.3bn of property savings

Paul Norman 15/06/2010 12:24

The Government could save an extra £4.3bn within five years through a “radical new approach to property management”, according to a Telereal Trillium commissioned report.

According to Property Efficiency Solutions, which was conducted by economics consultancy SQW on behalf of outsourcing specialist Telereal Trillium, the savings are equivalent to a £1.42bn reduction in the annual budget deficit within five years.

It added that this is more than eight times the £170m of annual savings announced by the government for this financial year.

The report writes: “At present, the UK civil service occupies some 7.7m sq m of office space. However, despite the previous government’s ambitions for reducing the running costs of the civil office estate by £1bn in annual savings, progress so far has been limited.”

It reports: “Substantial savings are achievable through deeper and accelerated implementation of best practice approaches to civil estate management – 40% higher per year than estimated by the last government. The report projects that cumulative savings of £4.3bn could be achieved within five years, rising to more than £12bn by 2020."

The savings identified in the report relate only to the civil service estate, which accounts for 10% of the overall £25bn annual running costs of the entire public sector property portfolio.

Further savings could be achieved if government plans to scrap quangos and scale back government programmes result in a reduction in the number of Whitehall jobs.

If the posts are located in London, then the additional property-related savings could amount to around £50m pa for every 10,000 posts eliminated.

Ian Ellis, executive chairman of Telereal Trillium, said:  “Reducing the deficit is a formidable task for the Government. The focus on reducing waste is welcome, but the challenge of turning rhetoric into reality cannot be underestimated. The public sector can no longer afford to adopt a sub-optimum approach to the management of its property assets.

“Telereal Trillium is committed to playing its part in addressing these challenges, and this research demonstrates that commitment. We have successfully delivered cost savings and improved working conditions over many years, and we believe that that experience can provide valuable lessons for policy makers as they seek to get spending under control.”

paul.norman@estatesgazette.com

Telereal hangs up at Telephone Exchange

16/08/2010 [EGi News] [EGi News Alert] [Free To Air] ...>

Telereal gets Maude call to renegotiate costs

16/07/2010 [EGi News] [EGi News Alert] ...>