Managing central government property

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 26 Jul 2022 Closed: 24 Feb 2023 Parliament page
The Committee will question senior executives at the Cabinet Office and Government Property Agency Central government property, valued at £158 billion, is one of government’s largest assets. It includes offices, hospitals, academy schools, jobcentres, courts, prisons and museums. Managing central government property effectively helps to support government priorities such as … Read more
6 Recommendations
15 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
24 Feb
2023
Report published
21 Dec
2022
Report published
8 Nov
2022
Correspondence
17 Oct
2022
Correspondence
13 Oct
2022
Oral evidence
13 Oct
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
13 Oct 2022
View on parliament.uk
Managing central government property
Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office Dr Janet Young · Government Property Profession Mark Chivers · Cabinet Office Steven Boyd MBE · Government Property Agency
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirty-First Report - Managing central government property HC 48 21 Dec 2022 21 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
21 results
2 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
The Cabinet Office’s efforts to update its property database have been subject to a series...
The Cabinet Office’s efforts to update its property database have been subject to a series of unnecessary delays and setbacks. The Cabinet Office announced its new property database in 2018, with an anticipated launch date in 2021. The Cabinet Office … Read more
Government Response
An analysis has been conducted and actions have been taken forward to the current procurement, so that the delivery will be supported with in-house technology expertise and will be in a phased manner.
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
The land and science property portfolios do not have clear leads, which frustrates decision making...
The land and science property portfolios do not have clear leads, which frustrates decision making and creates a lack of accountability for their management. In 2021, the Cabinet Office organised government property into twelve portfolios, such as health or defence, … Read more
Government Response
Defra has agreed to be the portfolio lead for the land portfolio, and the lead for the science portfolio is likely to be the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), with a further update to be provided before summer recess.
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4 Recommendation Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
We are sceptical that the Government Hubs programme still represents good value for money in...
We are sceptical that the Government Hubs programme still represents good value for money in the current climate. The Government Hubs programme relocates civil servants from small offices into large, modern government hubs located in cities across the United Kingdom. … Read more
Government Response
A progress report is provided to Ministers, on the Hubs Programme, biannually with the next due in the Summer 2023, which will be used to provide an annual update to the committee.
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5 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
In addition to this, the Cabinet Office should update us yearly on the rollout of...
In addition to this, the Cabinet Office should update us yearly on the rollout of the hubs programme. Such updates should include the lease term and next available break point for each GPA hub, the extent to which offices are … Read more
Government Response
The Cabinet Office has commissioned departments to produce a forward look of their planned disposal activity to 2030, which will be refreshed periodically to enable analysis and monitoring of disposal plans.
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6 Recommendation Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
It is unclear how the government will meet its target for property disposals, given the...
It is unclear how the government will meet its target for property disposals, given the past struggles of such programmes and current market uncertainty. The new government property strategy has set a target for disposing of surplus property, to generate … Read more
Government Response
The response notes the Committee’s conclusion and points to the overall success of the 2018 Government Estate Strategy in unlocking savings and efficiencies.
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7 Conclusion Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
Government’s plan to reduce the operating costs of the government estate is not sufficiently ambitious.
Government’s plan to reduce the operating costs of the government estate is not sufficiently ambitious. The Cabinet Office could not tell us if the government’s current operating cost to property value ratio is a good one. In 2020–2021, the operating … Read more
Government Response
The government will reduce the size of the government leasehold estate through the government Hubs programme and greater sharing of space across the public sector to achieve £500 million operating cost savings per annum by the end of the Spending Review period.
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8 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
None of the witnesses were able to tell us at the hearing how many of...
None of the witnesses were able to tell us at the hearing how many of the 12 HMRC hubs were let on 25-year unbreakable leases. They thought it was one or two, the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office subsequently … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to write to the committee within six months splitting out operating costs of the government estate by expenditure type and sets out the current £500 million planned savings for each area and what scope there is for additional savings. The government says it already collects and reports aggregated running costs from departments that are published annually in the State of the Estate Report and will set out what savings have been made in the first six months of the Strategy (from September 2022 to March 2023) in the 2023 State of the Estate Report.
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1 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, including the Permanent Secretary, Chief Property Officer, the Government Head of the Property Profession and the Chief Executive of the Government … Read more
Government Response
The department has now published on GOV.UK a bespoke property data standard, to enable better data collection for all of the government estate and the procurement of the new property database is due to take place throughout the course of 2023 with the expectation that the new system will be in place no later than Spring 2024.
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9 Conclusion Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
Citing staffing problems, the contractor, Landmark Solution, did not complete the inSite project, even when...
Citing staffing problems, the contractor, Landmark Solution, did not complete the inSite project, even when granted an extension. The Cabinet Office terminated its contract with Landmark solutions in July 2022, by which point it had paid out £880,000 of the … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the Committee’s recommendation to get its new property database up and running as soon as possible with a target implementation date of Spring 2024.
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10 Recommendation Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
The Cabinet Office was not able to tell us when the inSite system would be...
The Cabinet Office was not able to tell us when the inSite system would be functional or how much it will cost. The Cabinet Office stated that such information could only be provided after it agreed a contract with a … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation to get the new property database up and running as soon as possible and has set a target implementation date of Spring 2024. It will continue to ensure the legacy system remains fully operational.
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11 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
In 2021, the Cabinet Office categorised government property into twelve portfolios based on how property...
In 2021, the Cabinet Office categorised government property into twelve portfolios based on how property is used.27 For some portfolios, such as defence or prisons, a single department or arm’s-length body holds all the relevant properties. In other portfolios, such … Read more
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
The government believes that this portfolio approach leads to improved data and management, as well...
The government believes that this portfolio approach leads to improved data and management, as well as increased transparency and accountability.29 The new government property strategy lays out plans for each portfolio to have its own strategy by March Read more
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13 Conclusion Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
Currently, ten of the twelve portfolios have a lead department.
Currently, ten of the twelve portfolios have a lead department. The science and land portfolios do not have a lead.32 Given the importance of portfolio management to government’s plans for the estate, and in ensuring a single point of accountability, … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the Committee’s recommendation to name lead departments for the science and land portfolios and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has agreed to be the portfolio lead for the land portfolio and the lead is likely to be the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) for the science portfolio.
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14 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
Another of the government’s major property initiatives is the Government Hubs programme.
Another of the government’s major property initiatives is the Government Hubs programme. The government plans to relocate civil servants from hundreds of small offices into dozens of large, modern government hubs that are strategically located in cities across the United … Read more
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15 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
We questioned whether the GPA used long-term leases for its government hubs, which might commit...
We questioned whether the GPA used long-term leases for its government hubs, which might commit the government to paying above-market rents in the years to come.39 The GPA told us that the hubs programme relies on a mix of freeholds, … Read more
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
The government does not yet fully understand how offices are being used post- pandemic.
The government does not yet fully understand how offices are being used post- pandemic. From the data available, GPA has calculated the usage of offices is down at least 25%.41 It explained that it is rolling out new methods of … Read more
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17 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
As part of the plan to ensure a “smaller, better, greener” estate, the new government...
As part of the plan to ensure a “smaller, better, greener” estate, the new government property strategy has set a target for disposing of surplus property. The Cabinet Office intends to generate £1.5 billion in property disposals by 2025, £500 … Read more
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Accepted
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
We questioned the Cabinet Office about how current turbulence in the property market may affect...
We questioned the Cabinet Office about how current turbulence in the property market may affect this target.46 The Cabinet Office acknowledged these risks, particularly surrounding valuation. It assured us it would seek appropriate professional advice and there would be no … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed with the Committee’s recommendation and will write to the Committee with information on how it intends to reach its property disposal target by April 2023.
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19 Conclusion
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
We have reported several times before about problems with land disposals programmes.
We have reported several times before about problems with land disposals programmes. For example, in 2021, we commented on the slow progress that the Ministry of Defence was making reducing its estate and in 2019 we noted that almost all … Read more
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
The new strategy’s emphasis on efficiency is also reflected in the plan to cut the...
The new strategy’s emphasis on efficiency is also reflected in the plan to cut the estate’s annual running costs by £500 million.51 In 2020–2021, the operating cost for central government property was £22 billion.52 We asked the Cabinet Office if … Read more
Government Response
The government notes the Committee’s conclusion and refers to savings and efficiencies unlocked by the 2018 Government Estate Strategy and the goals of the recently published Government Property Strategy 2022-2030.
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21 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirty-First Report - Managing cen…
We questioned whether the government’s plan to save £500 million on operating costs by 2025...
We questioned whether the government’s plan to save £500 million on operating costs by 2025 was ambitious enough, noting that it only represents approximately a 2% reduction.55 Cabinet Office officials told us the target was a cautious one and that … Read more
Government Response
The government notes the Committee’s conclusion that the plan to reduce the operating costs of the government estate is not sufficiently ambitious.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 14 of 6 classified
Accepted 8
Acknowledged 6
Total 6 recs + 15 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
8 Nov 2022 Correspondence from Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, re Managing government property, dated 2 November 2022
Parliament page
17 Oct 2022 Correspondence from Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, re managing central government property, dated 29 September 2022
Parliament page