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25 August 2022: Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme Accounting Officer assessment

Published 29 September 2022

Accounting Officer Memorandum: Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme

An Accounting Officer assessment for the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme was conducted in line with the Cabinet Office commitment to publish Accounting Officer Assessments for Government’s Major Projects. This Accounting Officer assessment considers the four standards of regularity, propriety, value for money and feasibility.

Background and context

The Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus programme seeks to achieve a vision of transforming central government’s ageing office estate, ensuring it is more efficient, digitally connected, fit for purpose, and will support modern ways of working. The Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus programme supports the Government’s strategic requirements to relocate 16,400 roles out of London and into regional Hubs, and consolidate 37,000 FTE in the Regions by 2030.

The programme aims to stimulate change and be a catalyst for the modernisation of the Civil Service and support the Civil Service Modernisation and Reform vision. This will be achieved through a consolidation of the Government Office Portfolio through a reduction in the number of buildings and ensuring government offices support productivity and effectiveness with more inclusive places to work which supports the health and wellbeing of our staff.

The SR21 settlement will support:

• Delivery 16 new Government Hubs and refurbish/restack of 5 buildings in Whitehall

• Delivers total cashable benefits with a Net Present Value (NPV) of £1.7bn over 20 years, achieved by;

• Closure of c134 government buildings (c60 offices in central London, c74 regional offices)

• Creation of Hub capacity by 2025 to relocate 9,326, increasing to 16,400 of the 22,000 Places for Growth (PfG) roles moving out of London and the South East by 2030

• Consolidation of 37,000 FTE Civil Service roles in the regions by 2030

The Programme Business Case completed HM Treasury approval process in April 2022.  The programme is firmly in the delivery phase with two projects completed in Birmingham, 23 Stephenson Street and London, Old Admiralty Building.

This transformation will also see the estate become more sustainable, with the creation of shared, low-carbon buildings. This will support the government’s ambitions set out in the Government Estates Strategy, The Industrial Strategy White Paper and spending priorities through:

• Ensuring strong and innovative public services

• Levelling up across the UK to increase and spread opportunity

• Leading the transition to Net Zero across the country and more globally

• Delivering our Plan for Growth

The Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme is more than just buildings; it is a catalyst for a more fundamental change leading to the modernisation of the Civil Service.

Regularity

The GPA has invested in a trained commercial and legal team, all with expertise in Government procurement regulations. They will work together to design and implement commercial strategies and present to the governance boards, both within GPA and Cabinet Office compliant routes to market.

This will include carrying out robust market engagement, selection of appropriate procedures, managing incumbent advantage and implementing rigorous evaluation of bids.

The Central Government Estimates process provides the Cabinet Office department and GPA as an Executive Agency, with the legal authority to incur expenditure  through the Supply and Appropriation Act . The Programme does not require any additional legislation and complies with Parliamentary requirements for the control of expenditure, with Programme funds being applied only to the extent and for the purposes authorised by Parliament. The Programme adheres to the relevant HM Treasury approval procedures with the current Capital Projects Programme Business Case submission currently with HMT to issue to CST for consideration (once the new Government administration is in place) following previous approval from GPA CEO, CO CFO; CO Permanent Secretary and Minister for Efficiency.

Regularity Assessment: Met

Propriety

The Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus programme is aligned with the Government’s policy in delivering innovative public services, Levelling-Up across the UK, Net Zero and its Plan for Growth.

Programme assurance and approvals will be governed through the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme governance and approvals structure. The Programme Board reports to the GPA Executive Committee and is overseen by the Civil Service Location and Property Board (LPB).

The Programme Board is made up of representatives from all directorates within GPA, Capital Projects Strategic Partners, Office of Government Property, IPA, HM Treasury and the department. The Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme has assurance reviews from the IPA and is part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP). Decisions around property acquisition are also subject to National Property Controls and HM Treasury approvals.

GPA also developed an Acquisition Strategy, approved by the GPA Portfolio Committee,  that outlines the property acquisition, whether lease or freehold of all new government properties, either from the market directly, from local authorities or other public sector landowners. The property acquisition strategy is the fundamental Value for Money (VfM) decision GPA will take on behalf of the Government with BNP Paribas and Jones Lang LaSalle acting as GPA’s strategic property transaction advisors, with Gowlings and Beechcrofts as legal advisors.

Propriety Assessment: Met

Value for Money

Value for money has been assessed with a full options appraisal documented in the Programme Business Case. The preferred option for delivery offers the highest potential to meet critical success criteria and minimise delivery risks for GPA, providing best value for money. In addition to internal GPA approvals the case has also been assured and approved by both the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury.

Each project within the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus programme must develop a HM Treasury Green Book compliant business case, aligned to the five case model, and is subject to both internal financial scrutiny in addition to Cabinet Office Continuous Improvement and HM Treasury spend controls.

For Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus, the GPA has a strategic asset management approach to develop a flexible portfolio within a given town or city. For location, there will be a review on a case-by-case basis to establish the best VfM for the Government.

All procurement contracts awarded will be subject to competitive tendering as required by Cabinet Office procurement rules. The costs and benefits of the Programme will be measured and checked against the expectations that will be set out in each project’s Outline and Full Business Cases. This Government Major Project is a pathfinder programme for IPA Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) 2030.

Lessons learned are embedded across the programme and its individual projects with reviews held at the end of each stage of delivery. These are then applied to each project within the pipeline to ensure best practice is maintained throughout delivery.

Value for Money Assessment: Met

Feasibility

The Programme is subject to the requirements of the GMPP and is subject to review by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).

GPA operates a ‘thin client’ model with a small, dedicated programme and project civil servant delivery team who are fully integrated with industry partners in design and construction. Working alongside our Strategic Partners, (AECOM for Project and Cost Management) and (Atkins for Design), the Programme undertakes regular reviews of its key risks with regards to time, cost and quality outcomes for each of the constituent projects. This regular review provides greater assurance of costs and establishes links into the wider construction industry to inform and manage risks around inflation.

The Programme Plan details the timeline for the completion of the individual projects and incorporates all the individual project timelines and ensures that resources can be mapped and allocated where needed. The Programme Plan is a live document which will be regularly updated, based on information from a number of stakeholders including on project progress.

Feasibility Assessment: Met

Conclusion

I am satisfied that the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme relies on clear legal powers, meets the standards in Managing Public Money and accords with the generally understood principles of public life, representing value for money for the Exchequer as a whole, and is feasible to deliver.

This summary will be published on the government’s website (GOV.UK). Copies will be deposited in the Library of the House of Commons, and sent to the Controller and Auditor General and Treasury Officer of Accounts.

Steven Boyd

Chief Executive, Government Property Agency

25 August 2022