The government has mapped out plans to “transform” its public estate, including the potential sale of offices in London as civil service jobs are moved from the capital.
The “Government Property Strategy” outlines three missions: transform places and services; create a smaller, better and greener public estate; and improve professional excellence and insight.
In a foreword to the new paper, Jacob Rees-Mogg, minister for government efficiency, describes the government’s public estate as “a singular resource, with a significant impact”, quoting Winston Churchill as saying: “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.”
Rees-Mogg writes: “Its location, cost and effectiveness all have a direct relationship to the quality of public services and contribute to communities and places, driving economic growth throughout the UK. This includes delivering government’s levelling up commitments, part of which will reduce the number of government offices in London and build a larger presence in the rest of the country.”
The government plans to return the size of the civil service to 2016 levels, and Rees-Mogg says the public estate “will play a part in that transformation”.
“We will capitalise on this opportunity to redesign and create an estate suited to the needs of the current civil service, delivering today’s services,” he says. “It is always important that every property held by the government is efficient, functional and well-utilised. It is also essential that the government estate is beautiful and will stand the test of time, while being greener and more sustainable in line with our net-zero commitments by 2050.
“Properties that are not needed will be sold, which, in turn, will support other government priorities such as economic growth, housing and jobs, working in partnership with local government and other partners through programmes such as One Public Estate.”
The paper outlines government achievements so far, including a 30% reduction in the size of the central government general purpose estate since 2010, with annual running cost savings of £1.6bn.
Between April 2015 and March 2020, the government generated £5.2bn in capital receipts from property disposals for reinvestment, and is on track to deliver savings of £300m up to 2025 through the establishment of a network of 12 government hubs. The number of central London offices currently stands at 36, down from 63 in 2018.
The report specifies a variety of goals the government aims to meet by 2030.
In its first mission, of “transforming places and services”, it aims to use real estate to contribute to levelling up, regeneration and housing supply; for property investment decisions to improve the quality of places; and for the public estate to support changes in the way in which public services are delivered.
By 2025, the government wants to have moved 15,000 civil service roles out of Greater London. Surplus sites will be disposed of, with social and public value considered alongside economic value, and a new digital channel will be launched by 2025 to show surplus properties.
On the second mission – creating a small, greener estate – the report notes: “The estate needs to be efficient and affordable, optimising efficiency in use, providing opportunities for sharing and delivering value for money. Organisations will take a whole-portfolio view of their assets, recognising the capital employed and the potential value to other government priorities from repurposing or disposal. Organisations should prioritise costly, poor-quality properties for disposal, recycling capital receipts or resource savings into improving the condition and environmental performance of their retained estate.”
By 2025, the government aims to have delivered £500m in operating cost savings from the estate and to have developed a pipeline of disposals, aiming to generate gross capital receipts of £500m a year. Portfolio strategies should be in place across the estate by March 2023.
Finally, to maintain professional excellence and insight, the report proposes reforming the Government Property Function by increasing levels of professional accreditation, skills, leadership and talent management, as well as improving data to give a comprehensive oversight of government property.
The latter point will see the creation of a digital property asset register that the report refers to as “a ‘Domesday Book’ of all government property assets”.
“The ambition is that by 2030 public sector property professionals are known for industry-leading and commercial expertise, and business strategies are informed by high-quality property data and insight,” the report says.
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