Planning for the future of the Government’s estates

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 17 Oct 2022 Closed: 31 Oct 2023 Parliament page
In 2018, the Government unveiled an ambitious estates strategy, aiming to make substantial savings, encourage regional growth, and diversify the culture of the Civil Service. This inquiry will examine progress, led by the Cabinet Office and Government Property Agency, in delivering against this strategy and learning from previous policies on … Read more
9 Recommendations
10 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
2 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 12 events
18 Oct
2023
Report published
27 Jul
2023
Report published
23 May
2023
Correspondence
28 Mar
2023
Oral evidence
28 Mar
2023
Correspondence
28 Mar
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
21 Feb
2023
Oral evidence
21 Feb
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
31 Jan
2023
Oral evidence
31 Jan
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
13 Dec
2022
Oral evidence
13 Dec
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
28 Mar 2023
View on parliament.uk
Planning for the future of the Government’s estates
Alex Burghart MP · Cabinet Office Ravi Chand CBE · Cabinet Office Steven Boyd MBE · Government Property Agency
21 Feb 2023
View on parliament.uk
Planning for the future of the Government’s estates
Amy Leversidge · The FDA Trade Union Garry Graham · Prospect Geoff Lewtas · Public and Commercial Services Union Martin Kelsey · Public and Commercial Services Union
31 Jan 2023
View on parliament.uk
Planning for the future of the Government’s estates
Alex Thomas · Institute for Government Jordan Urban · Institute for Government Professor Tony Travers · The LSE School of Public Policy
13 Dec 2022
View on parliament.uk
Planning for the future of the Government’s estates
Kate Caulkin · The National Audit Office Ruth Kelly · The National Audit Office Siân Jones · The National Audit Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servants Work: Planning for the futu… HC 793 27 Jul 2023 19 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
9 results
Clear
2 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Publish a detailed prospectus and dedicated webpage for Places for Growth and Plan for London.
Publishing details of the rationale and success criteria for a major programme is essential for public transparency and assisting parliamentary scrutiny. This is not only a democratic good in itself; by exposing the justifications for their interventions to scrutiny, departments … Read more
Government Response
The Government will publish relevant programme documentation for Places for Growth and the Plan for London, and will refresh the appropriate pages to ensure that purpose, objectives, critical success factors and performance against these are included.
View details
4 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Publish accessible research explaining economic benefits of the Places for Growth programme.
The Cabinet Office has made high-profile statements about the economic benefits to be delivered by Places for Growth, referring to research which supports its estimates. However, it has only just published information about this research, and this information was not … Read more
Government Response
The government claims that research underpinning the economic benefits of the Places for Growth programme has already been published and that further early-stage analysis of the benefits is scheduled for this financial year. The National Statistician will respond directly to the Committee on the part of the recommendation relating to the Government Analysis Function.
View details
5 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Publish analyses of economic losses from office closures and benefits in new Hub areas.
The Government is not only relocating posts from London to the regions and nations, but also relocating posts from local offices (often in economically deprived towns) to large regional Hubs (mostly in big cities). We are concerned that the Cabinet … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the socio-economic impact of the Hubs Programme is considered for all recent and proposed regional Hubs, and the economic impact on regions as jobs are moved between them or new jobs created is analysed.
View details
7 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Government Property Agency's planning hindered by unclear civil service workforce policies
In order to do its job effectively, the Government Property Agency needs good quality workforce plans from departments, enabling it to plan for the right size and location of government offices. This has been made more difficult by uncertainties resulting … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to publishing relevant programme documentation for Places for Growth and the Plan for London.
View details
11 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Issue guidance on London recruitment for appropriate roles and monitor regional staff engagement
The Cabinet Office should issue guidance to departments that London should not be ruled out as location for new recruitment, where it is more appropriate for certain posts to be based in the capital. It should also use the Civil … Read more
Government Response
The government says that it is for departments to determine which roles should be recruited in London and that departmental workforce planning ensures that the right roles are being recruited for in the right locations. They say the Civil Service tracks People Survey results closely and that data is publicly accessible, and they will continue to monitor this data as more roles are relocated.
View details
12 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Promote and report on inter-departmental collaboration in regional Hubs; monitor staff transfers
Co-locating officials from different departments within the same regional Hubs potentially offers the opportunity to create collaborative teams, generating new insights and leading to more joined up policy-making. At the same time, past experience suggests that problems may arise from … Read more
Government Response
The government states they already promote positive case studies demonstrating the benefits of role relocations and cross-departmental working. They highlight existing co-location initiatives and encourage porosity between departments to facilitate career development. They also argue that potential tensions resulting from differing department pay arrangements are already successfully managed.
View details
16 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Coordinate local outreach work by regional offices to improve understanding of local needs
To increase the impact and rationale of each regional Hub, the Cabinet Office should co-ordinate the local outreach work undertaken by each department’s regional offices (liaising with local authorities, businesses, and third sector stakeholders). The objective should be to systematically … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office states it is already driving a joined-up approach to local outreach, overseen by Director-level Heads of Place, with regular cross-departmental outreach activities to understand local communities and foster relationships with local stakeholders.
View details
18 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Unproven economic and cultural benefits of civil service relocation programmes
Overall, the Cabinet Office has a number of successes to point to regarding the Places for Growth and Government Hubs programmes. The number of posts allocated to regional offices under Places for Growth is growing rapidly, and HMRC and the … Read more
Government Response
The government stated that research underpinning the economic benefits of the Places for Growth programme has already been published, implying the benefits have been demonstrated.
View details
19 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Where Civil Servan…
Cabinet Office approach lacks rigour and clear rationale for civil service relocation benefits
Beyond the specific design and impacts of these programmes, we were struck by what they revealed about the Cabinet Office’s approach to policy-making. The fact that Civil Service relocation has been pursued by several previous governments provides an historical comparison … Read more
Government Response
The government stated that research underpinning the economic benefits of the Places for Growth programme has already been published, responding to the committee's observation about a lack of published research.
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 19 of 9 classified
Accepted 9
Acknowledged 4
Deferred 5
Rejected 1
Total 9 recs + 10 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
23 May 2023 To committee Letter from Alex Burghart MP on follow up evidence after the 28 March oral evidence session - Planning for the future of the Government’s estates, dated 17.5.23
Parliament page
28 Mar 2023 To committee Letter from Alex Burghart MP, Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office on the Government Property Strategy, dated 28.2.23
Parliament page