Government commits to further £2 billion of property savings
The new Government Property Strategy has been published.
- New Government Property Strategy to realise savings by selling off property and making buildings more efficient
- Momentum builds for civil service relocation programme, with 7,000 roles moved already from London
- Key commitment to invest more in regenerating derelict public land
More than £2 billion in savings will be realised from property sales and efficiencies, Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has announced.
The savings are part of the new Government Property Strategy, which has been published today (31 August).
As part of the plans, the government will sell £1.5 billion of property assets over the next three years as projects such as the Government Hubs programme sees government staff consolidated into fewer buildings. £500 million of savings will also be made by reducing operating costs, using modern building materials and energy sources, and cutting spend on leases.
Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg said:
We are cutting the cost of the public estate so that we can return money to the taxpayer.
All spending on government property needs to be justified.
This will also help us deliver the Places for Growth programme, which will allow greater savings and mean the government is closer to the communities it serves.
The new strategy will accelerate the Places for Growth programme, which is moving 22,000 civil service roles out of London by 2030. The scheme has already relocated 7,000 jobs out of the capital, including 1,389 moved to Yorkshire & the Humber - the most of any UK region.
The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Department for Health and Social Care have moved more than 500 roles to Leeds while the Department for Education and Home Office contribute to around 250 Civil Service roles now based in Sheffield.
Other areas have also benefited from the programme, with more than 1,000 government jobs newly based in the North West and 550 moved to the North East.
The strategy also pledges to invest £300 million in grant funding, helping to unlock smaller, brownfield sites across England for housing through the One Public Estate (OPE) programme.
OPE, which is delivered in partnership with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Local Government Association, and has seen numerous success stories, including in Waltham Forest where the site of an old Library is being regenerated so it can be used to build 67 new homes and a central Family & Homes Hub. West Suffolk has also benefited through the ground-breaking Mildenhall Hub, which has brought education, health, employment, culture and leisure services together working collaboratively under one roof, right in the heart of the community.
The government estate is made up of hundreds of thousands of assets, from prisons and courts, to schools and museums, hospitals and health surgeries, job centres, military bases, administrative offices, and many more, spread all around the UK.
It will also ensure the Government estate supports delivery of the 25 Year Environment Plan and the Greening Government Commitments. Progress has already been made in this area with emissions from the government estate having fallen 57% since 2009.
The strategy outlines other successes which have already been delivered. These include reducing water consumption by 14%, and reducing the overall waste products from departments by 51%.