Government will save over £100 million on property this financial year

The Cabinet office has said that Central government properties in the UK are being assessed more effectively and used more efficiently, due to national property controls. Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, recently stated that Government has created a more transparent approach to efficiency savings that not only shows the true scale of what it owns or leases, but also enables Government to see the scope for savings and to push ahead with making them. Francis Maude said, “in our determination to find savings for taxpayers, we have introduced tight controls and saved over £100 million in the first nine months of this financial year.” This surpasses the £90 million saved in the 2010/11 financial year.

The estate area covered by the data is over five times the City of London and is spread over 13,911 different property holdings. Around 40% of the estate is comprised of office space and almost one fifth of it is situated in London. The savings are derived from the national property controls, which incorporate a requirement for the Cabinet Office to approve all new leases and property acquisitions. There are over 500 vacant property estates owned by Government and where possible these will be sub-let or sold. Other efficiency savings such as co-location will also be promoted, Some Cabinet Office staff moved into the Treasury building earlier this year, the first major example of Departments co-locating in Whitehall.

The cost of property per employee in the public sector is currently estimated to be £4,454 compared with £4,525 in the private sector and the Government is determined to reduce this further by focusing on Central London (the most expensive area). This initiative and the data that supports it mirror  some of the recommendations made in the WSBF’s Leaner and Greener Report which called for greater efficiency savings in the wider public sector estate.

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