The Government is getting better value for money from its estate, but has not made progress towards its objective of creating a shared, flexible and integrated estate, the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed.
According to the NAO, the Government’s estate includes some 4,600 individual holdings, and costs around £2.55 billion a year to run.
The Government Property Unit (GPU) was set up in 2010 to better co-ordinate estate management in the public sector.
The NAO says the GPU has made “good progress” in reducing the overall size of the central estate, raising around £2.5 billion by selling surplus land and properties.
Likewise, it has reduced overall estate spending and pays less for office accommodation than private sector comparators. In real terms, this equates to a cost saving of around £775 million since 2011/12.
However, the NAO says the GPU is short of property and project management experts to effectively improve its capability. It says the GPU’s skills and resources are stretched, and its increased workload has not been matched by increased staffing and planned work has not been done.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: “Departments have continued to reduce their estates, and Government is now getting better value for money. The Government Property Unit, however, still needs to make more headway to achieve a shared, flexible and integrated estate. It’s not going to be plain sailing. The GPU should take stock and, if necessary, delay, redesign or consider phasing its programmes over a longer timescale.”
The full report can be found here.
