Strategic Asset Management Plans (SAMPs) Handbook (HTML)

Q: Annex 2- Intelligent Client and Delivery Organisations (Service Providers)

Examples of a typical separation of responsibilities: SAMP Responsibility Client Delivery Organisation Governance and Resourcing of Intelligent Client role Yes Department Workforce Strategy: setting key parameters (numbers, change foreseen, attendance policies) Yes Workplace needs of the organisation Yes Locations: PfG plans, operational requirements, volumes, services Yes Budget: setting property spend, capital, revenue / rent Yes Yes Portfolio management (portfolio change and efficiency) Yes Sustainability: Net Zero pathway, adaptation, utility costs Yes Facilities Management contracts, plans Yes User satisfaction monitoring Yes Property Profession capability plans Yes Yes

Question 1

Notes

Accepted Answer

Status: guidance supplementary to a functional standard

This guidance supports the government functional standard for property (GovS 004). It is part of the governance and management framework for the property function, which has relevant material collated through the work of the Property Policy & Standards Committee and Property Leaders Board. It is accessible with other reference material on GOV.UK and via the Government Property Community portal (which requires a public sector email address).

Categorisation

Content Type on GOV.UK - Guidance

Management Framework Categorisation: Handbook

Consultation

This version (v1.0) has been prepared for SAMPs^{[footnote 1]} relating to the financial year 2025-26 and beyond. It is not expected to be updated every year, but feedback on its practicality in use will help make any further revision for future years. Comments may be submitted via govs.property@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Question 2

1. Introduction

Accepted Answer

1.1 Purpose of this Guidance

This guidance outlines the expected content of a SAMP, allowing for balance between commonality and customisation between different government departments and other organisations while maintaining good asset management practice. It describes routine processes for maintaining up-to-date strategy and planning to meet the requirements of the Government Functional Standard GovS 004, Property which mandates a current SAMP, prepared after assurance review, and provides other advice on a ‘comply or explain’ basis. The goal is to achieve estate management that delivers well-managed property that is suitable, sustainable and value for money.

1.2 Who this Guidance is for, and how to use it

SAMPs are mandatory for every central government department and arm’s length body that holds^{[footnote 2]} or uses property (real estate) - in practice all central government organisations, since they are all likely to have some kind of accommodation. Strategic planning for estate management is expected from the property function serving each organisation, regardless of scale, proportionate to the need, including any that have external delivery organisations supplying property services to them.

This guidance is therefore intended for all parts of HM Government, aiming at consistency in approach with flexibility in application. Given the variation between government organisations in the nature of their work and the scale and complexity of their estates, SAMPs may vary in scale and content, yet all have the same purpose, to show that real estate assets are being managed and valued properly, optimising their potential. They will also have common elements, showing alignment to the organisation’s services and strategies (including property strategy) and to the Government Property Strategy. See section 4 for essential content.

The range of variation between different UK Government organisations is vast: one may have a single office held on a lease and managed by an external service provider; another may have direct responsibility for managing land and buildings in multiple locations in the UK and overseas and a significant workforce as its property function. Nevertheless, for all organisations, the SAMP should take a common approach: at its core is an overview of the organisation’s property assets^{[footnote 3]}, by portfolio(s) if appropriate, accompanied by a strategy for the whole estate, and an overview of the functional operations, programmes and projects that will be associated with them, with their governance and resourcing. The overview should indicate subsidiary delivery plans, contracts or delivery organisation arrangements that will achieve strategy implementation and the organisation’s ambitions for good estate management.

The plans should outline any business needs that have property implications, any strategic changes required in the configuration or performance of the estate to meet organisational aims, and the relationship between the property strategy and subsidiary delivery plans. A SAMP should show how it takes account of risks, issues, governance, funding, human capacity and capability and other aspects of the management environment in the foreseeable future.

This guidance should be used as a supplement to the functional standard and in conjunction with all other relevant standards, guidance and frameworks, including the Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework.

1.3 What is a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP)?

Every government organisation occupies some form of property, however big or small, and pays for it with public funds. This is why all departments and their partner organisations (‘arm’s length bodies’) should have a strategic planning framework for their ‘estate’, in a proportionate and appropriate form. The framework should reflect the size and value of the estate, and show how strategy will be implemented through projects, programmes and delivery plans.

The strategic asset management plan translates the property strategy into plans, programmes and projects for implementation.” (GovS 004, 4.3.3)

SAMPs are an essential part of good organisational management, ensuring that operational requirements are met, together with policy aims that apply across the whole of HM Government. In combination, these objectives need to be translated into suitable estate management systems. The overall aim is that public property assets should be used efficiently and effectively, achieving benefits for the public. SAMPS are therefore a combination of strategy and delivery plans for individual organisations and the whole of central government, and should align with the Government Property Strategy which has three missions, Transforming Places and Services; Smaller, Better Greener; Excellence and Insight (see 3.3).

Strategic asset management can be defined as the activity of aligning property assets with the strategic aims and direction of the organisation…”^{[footnote 4]}

Strategic asset management planning should provide for land, buildings and associated infrastructure to be kept in a satisfactory condition, sustainable and safe. It also needs to address the need for the life cycle of property to be managed. This requires change management programmes, deliverable through the work of responsible individuals that are competent and qualified for the purpose. (Requirements and expectations are set out in the government functional standard and the associated Property Career Framework.)

Question 3

2. Strategy and Planning Framework

Accepted Answer

2.1 The property function assurance model

The review of strategic asset management plans is an important part of the regular assurance mechanism for the Property Function and allows the government as a whole to know that public money is being well spent. (The Government Internal Audit Agency and the National Audit Office review expenditure from time to time).

The SAMP planning process should be an iterative, cyclic, review process with reviews at least annually, ideally by the end of Quarter 4. The plans should reflect lessons learned in the previous plan period and the performance reported in the State of the Estate report or in the Government Estate Annual Data Publication or in the dashboard for the Performance Management Framework in use for the property function.

Changes in a SAMP from one review to the next may be minor, responding only to one year’s progress in delivery, or possibly only to confirm ‘no change’ for the coming year; alternatively they may need to be substantial, for example to reflect a fiscal event, such as a Spending Review, or when a transformation programme is introduced.

The Bilateral Property Assurance Meetings (PAMs) provide a forum (held predominantly in Quarter 2) between Senior Departmental Property Leaders and The Government Chief Property Officer to discuss foreseeable property needs/changes and related risks, as they are reflected in departmental SAMPs, and to confer about potential resolution and mitigations.

2.2 Conducting assurance reviews ahead of SAMP refresh

Prior to any revision of a SAMP, an assurance review should be conducted (ideally in Quarter 3) as an integral part of plan preparation. This is necessary for the mandatory process of plan revision, but each review should be proportional to the circumstances. Guidance is available.

The functional standard assumes that a robust assurance review prior to a SAMP refresh will be an integral part of strategic planning, and will enable the plan’s authors to build into it all the required actions to ensure deliverability, such as mitigation of a risk or changes needed for proper governance or better reporting or data quality. The review should reassess the work of the property function within the organisation and the current cross-government operating environment. It should take into account the performance achieved in the previous year and the prospects of delivering what is required in the coming year. Those requirements include the business needs of the organisation and the aims of the Government Property Strategy, with its missions and its associated strategies, for example for Net Zero, or backlog maintenance. The SAMP should then be refreshed in the light of all these considerations, showing how it is scheduled, resourced and funded (or not).

The Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CIAF) provides a guide to making an assurance review, based on the functional standard, aiming at improvement. It is designed primarily for self-assessment. Use of the published CIAF in the published format is not mandatory; other review methods may be used that will achieve the same effect in an assurance review. Likewise, a Scoring Tool (xlsx, 237KB) is available to support assessment of functional maturity in an organisation. Its use is not mandatory. As it can be useful to compare assurance processes with other, comparable organisations, peer review is recommended. Review outcomes (Developing, Good, Better, Best) should be summarised in the SAMP with an explanation of how they have informed the plan’s contents.

Good Practice: Ideally, assurance review assessments could be conducted in conjunction with other departments, drawing on another organisation’s experience. Where possible, Departments are encouraged to collaborate with partners that have similar sized property portfolios, with usefully comparable characteristics. Assurance reviews should be proportionate in scale to the portfolio, the functional workforce, and the financial outlay.

The Office of Government Property (OGP) will request a copy of each SAMP in two different forms, at different times of the year:

‘Working copy’ SAMP - Typically in the last quarter of each financial year, OGP will request sight of a newly refreshed ‘working copy’ SAMP, at a clearance level determined by each organisation. Sharing the SAMP in this form with the Office of Government Property enables the functional centre to have an overview of intentions and open up dialogue on improvement journeys, recruitment, investment programmes, or potential to meet policy priorities. Discussion can be initiated at the Property Leaders Board or in Property Assurance Meetings. It is assumed that ‘working copy’ SAMPs might include aspirational content, not yet finalised as plans, or option appraisals. Whilst suitable for sharing with the centre of government (including HM Treasury if appropriate) and possibly other departments, some content might need to be marked as still under review and subject to potential amendment. Working copy SAMPs shared with OGP will be treated with confidentiality and as not to be shared outside HM Government bodies without prior permission. In this form, plans are useful to inform leadership, coordination and optimisation for the property function as a whole, with assurance of likely effective delivery.
SAMP - for publication^{[footnote 5]}. Typically at the summer recess of Parliament, OGP will request a shorter plan in a form suitable for publication on GOV.UK (subject to ministerial decision), to meet transparency obligations. The published SAMP, signed off by the Accounting Officer, should provide a concise version of the more detailed ‘working copy’ in a form that can be released into the public domain (i.e. excluding sensitive information). This version should set out broad intentions, described in plain English, with visibility of simple data about public property assets and spending. A template of suggested content is provided at Annex 1.

Regular communications from the Office of Government Property (OGP) will act as reminders for SAMP preparation and sharing, adding any supplementary advice that may be necessary. However, advice in this guidance is expected to be stable, needing to be changed only rarely, so that it forms the basis of routine asset management and related activity for the government property function.

SAMPs will be used by OGP to inform the development of cross-government policy and monitor delivery of programmes; to confer with HM Treasury on functional activity; to brief ministers; and to provide contextual information for assurance and control processes.. Spend controls such as the National Property Control and FM Control will be informed by the relevant SAMP, possibly in support of any agreement for greater autonomy Information from the plans (with necessary prior permission) will be used to inform bilateral conversations (Property Assurance Meetings) between each organisation and OGP, aiming at identifying cross-cutting issues opportunities - some of which might be suitable for consideration at Property Leaders Board. SAMPs will also be used to assess the level of activity across government for delivery of the Government Property Strategy.

OGP may share SAMPs with The Government Property Agency (GPA) to inform the cross-government perspective on general office portfolios. GPA will follow the same privacy rules as OGP, not sharing specific information outside HM Government bodies without prior permission.

Question 4

3. SAMP approach and planning

Accepted Answer

3.1 Format

There is no detailed prescription for SAMP format: it should be appropriate for the content (see section 4). A slide pack or report format is effective; a worksheet (spreadsheet) is another option; whichever is chosen, it should identify projects and programmes that will contribute to policy delivery on government priorities, with links to any supporting material, such as a Property Event Forward Look Pipeline. The Office of Government Property will be encouraging a culture within the property function that shares good practice.

3.2 Key Themes

Each SAMP should set out how the organisation’s estate will be managed to enable delivery of public services effectively, sustainably and efficiently, giving good value for money. If change is required, the SAMP should set out how it will be achieved, meeting objectives in the organisational business plan or Government Property Strategy.

It is expected that each SAMP will set out an approach to:

‘right-sizing’ the estate, to fit the scale and nature of the business, and improving utilisation, optimising for effectiveness and efficiency, whole life cost, and releasing any surplus assets
improving the condition of property so that it is fit for purpose, addressing issues such as backlog maintenance or building safety
improving sustainability, reducing carbon emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change^{[footnote 6]}

Each SAMP should also show how the organisation will contribute to government priorities and cross-government property function programmes which include:

Places for Growth (PfG), relocating jobs away from London
One Public Estate (OPE), promoting collaborative approaches to public property
Any overall efficiency improvements and disposals targets
Net Zero, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, climate adaptation plans and other Sustainability commitments - see Annex 4 for further guidance
Better buildings, to improve productivity, user experience and wellbeing
Facilities Management (FM) Strategy and Standards.

3.3 Delivery of the Government Property Strategy

SAMPs should outline how they contribute to delivering the Government Property Strategy (GPS) with its three Missions. An assurance review, prior to the refresh of a SAMP, will include a review of delivery against government priorities. The Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CIAF) is a basis for reviewing an organisation’s performance against the functional standard and the Government Property Strategy.

Here are just three illustrative examples of contributions to GPS missions and functional maturity at ‘good’ + ‘better’ + ‘best’ levels:

Mission 1: Transforming Places and Services
- Good: planning for relocations out of London to meet PfG targets;
- Better: + Scaling up collaborative partnerships within a defined place, taken in the interests of regional growth.
- Best: + link to organisation’s workforce strategy, with benefit tracking
Mission 2: Smaller, Better, Greener
- Good: an overall portfolio strategy has property event pipelines with acquisitions, disposals, lease breaks/ exits and plan to address maintenance backlogs;
- Better: + plans defined for each event in SR period, achieves efficiency savings, progress with reducing backlog maintenance;
- Best: + link to benefit tracking; demonstrates sustainability upgrade, establishes long term maintenance programme.
Mission 3: Excellence and Insight
- Good: SAMP incorporates response to results of assurance review; capability improvement plan to address findings
- Better: + projects improving functional capability, diversity, accreditation
- Best: + establishes functional capacity and capability that is equal to the requirements of the organisation and its SAMP projects and programmes

3.4 Data reporting

A SAMP should contain robust baseline data to indicate the starting point for future action. Each organisation’s forward plans should be based on good quality management information that supports its decision-making, such as accurate building condition data or lifetime replacement schedules. Data should be consistent with inputs to central data sources in use for the property function as a whole.

The annually published State of the Estate report provides Parliament with information on the size, condition and performance of the government estate. Other reporting is provided in the Government Estate Annual Data publication and the dashboard for the Performance Management Framework, compiled by the Office of Government Property.

Delivery plans should indicate the baseline and targets for programmes to comply with regulations, such as energy efficiency regulations (Energy Performance Certificates, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard regulations) or to progress a Net Zero strategy.

Data should be organised in asset classes or categories to match those in central reports - wherever necessary using the published Government Property Data Standard - and if appropriate state where additional or more detailed data is held, such as in the organisation’s property database(s) and BIM (Building Information Model) systems.

3.5 Cross-referencing

To avoid duplication, strategies and plans may cross-refer. A SAMP is a framework plan, a ‘plan of plans’, within which there are component parts that can be referenced separately. In some cases, a SAMP may rely heavily on other documentation or data for its vital information. For example, an organisation might reference a published property strategy as an alternative to describing the strategy in their SAMP. Likewise, inventory information may summarise data from a separate digital asset database, or a ‘pipeline’ report (see section 5), and show where the more detailed information is available.

3.6 Setting out responsibilities and accountability^{[footnote 7]}

Accounting Officers (AO) are accountable to Parliament for the use of public money and the use of government property assets. AO are usually the permanent secretary for a government department but governance structures may also allow for a Principal Accounting Officer and other Accounting Officers within the departmental family, including its Arm’s Length Bodies (ALB).

SAMPs should set out the relevant accountabilities and current governance structures. For any government organisation other than a ministerial department, the SAMP should indicate whether it receives instructions from a sponsoring department or another external party to shape its property management or Intelligent Client role.

Accounting Officers are accountable for expenditure on property occupied by their organisation, which may be held and managed by another organisation.^{[footnote 8]} In those circumstances, their plan should show the expected expenditure and broad outline of the requirements giving rise to it.

Responsibility refers to someone’s duty to carry out a task to completion; accountability is concerned with the consequences of actions, possibly by others, rather than the duty to carry these actions out.

3.7 The role of Property Delivery Organisations in preparing SAMPs

If any organisation has delegated its property service requirements to a delivery organisation (for example the Government Property Agency, Integrated Corporate Services, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, FCDO Services, etc.) responsibility for parts of the SAMP and its data may be undertaken by the agent. In all circumstances, the relevant property strategy should continue to be owned by the client organisation, setting out the expected composition of the workforce, organisational size, structure and location, predicted business volumes and any special operational requirements. Suitable personnel should be provided to discharge the role of Intelligent Client (see GovS 004 4.7.4, 6.13).

A delivery organisation may be made responsible for deciding how to meet an organisation’s requirements, so that it provides satisfactory accommodation. A comprehensive agreement is likely to include facilities management and security. The delivery organisation may decide which property assets will be held and managed, in accordance with its own delivery strategy and government policy, and respond to suitable commissioning from the Client. However, the delivery organisation does not determine the requirements themselves, which should be clearly communicated by the Client to the delivery organisation in a timely manner.

Where responsibility for SAMP preparation and update is divided between a client and a delivery organisation, the respective responsibilities should be agreed in writing. For example, the Intelligent Client’s role may be to prepare a property strategy presenting its broad requirements; the delivery organisation will set out a plan for its property portfolio (containing the client’s accommodation), referencing the client’s requirements.

A shared services organisation may prepare a SAMP covering the needs of several organisations. In all cases, the Client should endorse the content relating to their requirements. The delivery organisation should take responsibility for content related to their services and the property assets themselves. The Intelligent Client role for each government department should ensure that its SAMP covers the entire departmental family, including a reference to arm’s length bodies, even if they prepare their own plan. Comprehensive coverage may be achieved merely by cross-referencing separate plans for ALB organisations.

3.8 Division Of Responsibilities: Devolved Arrangements

Some aspects of the government property function involve substantial devolution of responsibilities to autonomous or semi-autonomous public bodies. Notable among these are:

Intelligent Client and Delivery Organisations (Service Providers) - Responsibilities for producing a SAMP should be agreed between parties, taking account of the Intelligent Client role and any delivery organisation / service provider arrangement (contract). General advice has been outlined in separate guidance.

The Client should focus on articulating property requirements based on the organisational strategy and business plan, including workforce and location plans. The delivery organisation should focus on plans for service provision to the Client, including any new arrangements for asset and facilities management or reconfiguration of a portfolio.

Example: The GPA and its Clients prepare complementary SAMPs. GPA produces a SAMP for assets that have been transferred into its office portfolio. GPA’s comprehensive SAMP(s) may cover ‘onboarded’ (i.e. transferred) assets and those not yet transferred, to promote a strategy for the whole asset class. Client departments need only prepare their SAMP in the Intelligent Client role, setting out strategic requirements such as workforce numbers and locations or operational needs, leaving decision-making on future property holdings and management to the GPA’s portfolio SAMP.

Similarly, Departments with other organisational structures and service providers, such as MoD and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, or DESNZ and ICS, or FCDO and FCDO Services, should agree arrangements for preparing a SAMP to reflect the relationship between Client and delivery organisation. The agreed arrangements should encourage efficient and effective working practices, avoiding duplication. Examples of a typical separation of responsibilities are shown in the diagram at Annex 2.

UK Devolved Administrations - for many urposes, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate administrations. Some SAMPs (or their equivalent) will relate to national areas and services whilst others will be for England or the United Kingdom as a whole. Guidance on these arrangements is available on GOV.UK
Schools - many are constituted as trusts, reflecting arrangements for academies and free schools, whilst being state-funded; others have local authority involvement; some school property is owned directly by the government (as Secretary of State for Education); LocatEd Property Ltd. is company and a Non-Departmental Public Body responsible for buying and developing sites in England and supplying expertise to support an efficient school estate. The SAMP for the DfE therefore should provide an overview of the whole schools estate, outlining strategies that are common to all school property or distinguishing the portfolio(s) to which they apply; for the property that is directly controlled by the government or LocatEd it should show the relevant content.
Hospitals - are also typically run by trusts (listed in the NHS Provider Directory) and this estate is one part of the health sector, which comprises several other organisations with different kinds of governance set up under the Health and Care Act, such as: primary care networks; blood and transplant service; community, mental health and ambulance trusts; Integrated Care Systems (comprising IC Boards and IC Partnerships); and the Care Quality Commission, which provides assurance. The SAMP for DHSC should therefore outline the overall governance for property within the whole government-sponsored health sector, and within that summarise the assets and resource requirements for those categories (portfolios) that are controlled directly by the Department or its agencies, matching the arrangements for top-level reporting and analysis. For example the SAMP framework plan might refer to the NHS national capital reporting tool being rolled out by the National Estates team, or to an overview of estate management issues within the ICS.

Question 5

4. Suggested SAMP structure and content

Accepted Answer

4.1 Overview of essentials

SAMPs should provide a comprehensive overview of the property function in an organisation. They should:

contain, summarise or reference the organisation’s strategy for property, showing alignment with the organisation’s Outcome Delivery Plan (or equivalent), matching the overall business strategy and foreseeing property needs
outline the property inventory: data for all accommodation held or used, summarised and organised in asset classes or use categories as appropriate, if necessary indicating where more detailed data is held - for example in aligned condition data or inputs to the State of the Estate report.
set out governance arrangements, showing how property is managed, either within the organisational structure (department /ALB) or by others
include or reference pipelines^{[footnote 9]} of property events (lease breaks and expiries, disposals, acquisitions, etc.), indicating which still need internal or external approval
outline property programmes, projects and delivery plans that will enable change and investment for repair, maintenance or refurbishment
profile spending over at least the agreed Spending Review settlement period, distinguishing between capital and revenue
outline property related risks or issues that have been identified by the organisation
outline human resources that are required to deliver the planned changes and / or maintain existing assets, including professional skill sets and specialisms.

4.2 Proposed Structure

Contents of the plan would ideally be structured to include the following 10 headings:

Scope- organisations in scope of the SAMP (e.g. a department and its arm’s length bodies) see 4.3 below
Governance- how authority structures are related and will manage the property function;
Operational- management structure(s) for service delivery; property requirements;
Estate Profile- summarise, or cross-refer to an inventory of property assets held or occupied by the organisation, including related summary data setting requirements – workforce; location(s); business volumes/; backlog maintenance; land areas and constraints, etc. Data should be entered into organisational digital records and transferable to the government digital national asset register (InSite) using the Property Data Standard See 4.4 below
Transformations and Planned Changes- radical objectives; new business models; success/satisfaction targets. See 4.5 below
Programmes and Projects- workstreams (including contracts) for maintenance or change. See 4.6 below
Issues and Planned Changes- challenges, aspirations, risks and issues facing the organisation’s estate management.
Finance- main budget headings (capital + revenue); funded and un/under-funded items and requirements; total costs and revenues. See 4.7 below
Capacity and Capability- human resources; capacity and capability; Intelligent Client role; delivery; performance. See 4.8 below
Annexed Pipeline- intended changes to a property portfolio should be outlined in Pipeline(s) of expected property events and projects. See 5 below

4.3 Scope

This section should clearly state the organisations and type of property assets that are in scope of the strategic asset plan. SAMPs should report on all property owned, occupied or used by ‘central government’^{[footnote 10]} organisations. (This does not include estates managed by the Devolved Administrations, local authority assets or the wider public estate.)

If an organisation leads strategy for a whole asset category (such as general offices) the SAMP should distinguish between assets that the lead organisation directly manages from those managed by other organisations. If an organisation is responsible for more than one asset category it may choose to prepare a SAMP for each of them. Property strategy in the portfolio SAMP may indicate ambition for sector reform and asset transfers.

Ministerial Departments should include all ALB partner organisations within scope of their SAMP unless they have delegated responsibility to the ALB organisations to produce their own - reflective of the size, number and nature of their relevant property holdings. For example, large ‘executive’ organisations, with multiple sites and a significant workforce, might produce a plan for their own property portfolio, whereas an ALB organisation with a small estate footprint (such as a single office provided by GPA) can be easily referenced in their sponsor dept’s SAMP. However, in all cases, the sponsor department is accountable for the content of SAMPs prepared by its ALB.

4.4 Estate Profile

The SAMP should contain, summarise, or cross-refer to an inventory of property assets held or occupied by the organisation. The most efficient way to do this is to ensure that accurate data is entered into organisational digital records and is transferable to InSite, the central asset register for the government estate.

Inventory should include information for property assets, conforming to the Government Property Data Standard, with the data fields contained in section 9.1 to 9.4 of the standard, that include location, essential characteristics and overall condition rating. It should be relatable to information provided to HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office for the State of the Estate report and for planned capital investment or spending on running costs (including repair and maintenance), property events (such as lease renewals), new FM contracts, or disposals (see section 5 on pipelines below). If such information does not exist at present the SAMP should describe how it will be created. (See GovS 004, 6.3 and Annexes 4 and 5 of this guidance.)

4.5 Transformations and planned estate changes

The SAMP should outline the means of delivery for significant planned changes for property held or used by the organisation. Intentions should be described in terms of acquisitions or disposals (including freehold and leases), retentions when a disposal could otherwise occur (e.g. at a lease break), and significant planned investments, such as for refurbishment or remediation, strategic maintenance plans, including setting out long term capital needs to reduce risks caused by maintenance backlogs, and sustainability investment. Proposals should be shown to take account of the whole life cost of each relevant property asset. If property event pipelines have been compiled separately they may be cross-referenced.

4.6 Programmes and Projects (Delivery Plans)

Ongoing property service requirements should be identified as projects or programmes. If appropriate they may be treated as the subject of a delivery plan, described briefly or in greater depth according to the scale and nature of the project. Guidance is provided by the government project delivery function (see the functional standard GovS 002, Project Delivery). The SAMP should list delivery plans that are either in continuing operation at the present time or in preparation.

4.7 Financial

SAMPs should outline the funding required to implement intended actions , distinguishing capital and revenue expenditure. The plan should provide the baseline total cost of running the existing estate, indicate expected change over the plan period, and identify known funding gaps and plans to address them. It should distinguish between spending within approved budgets and additional funding requiring special Treasury or other approval. The financial outline should be consistent with any relevant Spending Review settlement. It should indicate any dependencies, shared funding arrangements or partnerships. Guidance is available from the Government Finance Function, for example in the Budget Holder Forecasting Handbook.

Departments should set out any expected property running cost efficiency savings and the programmes or activities that are expected to deliver them. These savings will be ‘technical efficiencies’ rather than ‘general savings’ i.e. they must be monetisable and cash releasing, net of costs, and compliant with HMT’s Govt Efficiency Framework and the relevant SoftE definition.

4.8 People - Property Workforce Planning

Each SAMP should be accompanied by an assessment of the capability and capacity required to implement it, including human resources (whether sufficient skills, talents and capacity are available) and the necessary organisational processes and systems. Planning should be based on the annual Capability Data Commission from OGP, focusing on property profession capability and capacity, including the current level of accreditation by professional bodies against the targets of the Government Property Strategy. The SAMP should show how the organisation plans to achieve its targets and whether it is adequately resourced.

Specifically, the SAMP should include the following:

This information will enable a function-wide understanding of the likely workforce needs, and so better enable the Function (and Profession) to support in recruiting, developing and retaining the right skills. The Profession’s UK Property Workforce Insights Report is available to support your planning.

Question 6

5. Annexed Pipeline(s)

Accepted Answer

Intended changes to a property portfolio should be outlined in pipelines of expected property events and projects. The following categories are expected to be included within the SAMP:

5.1 Property Events

A future property event pipeline that includes leasehold and freehold properties, identifying planned acquisitions, retentions (beyond exit or break opportunities), and disposals/ lease exits. Pipelines form an essential component of the Cabinet Office controls framework, which requires a forward look of spending proposals for certain categories, with details sufficient to triage proposals for proportionate and targeted assurance. Requirements are set out in National Property Control (NPC) policy.

5.2 FM Contracts

This includes all current (including those in their extension period) and planned new FM contracts. Requirements are set out in Facilities Management Control policy.

5.3 Investment Projects

This pipeline should set out clear and concise plans for major investment in retained buildings (regardless of tenure) including projects to address new demand, building condition improvements (including repair, re-fit, upgrade, refurbishment), or standards of safety, security, or energy efficiency, or other aspects of sustainability.

This should be a long term property plan which sets out the capital needs of the service over the next ten or more years, and a measurable plan to reduce the maintenance backlog.

Department’s ALB partner organisations must be included either within the departmental SAMP or produce one themselves. See Annex 4 for further guidance.

5.4 Surplus Assets / Disposals

Detailed surplus asset/ disposal pipelines are likely to exist in separate documentation- commissioned biannually by OGP. To minimise the additional burden on departments, the SAMP may simply cross-refer to the disposal return previously submitted to OGP, highlighting any critical events or changes as appropriate.

Organisations holding surplus freehold and leasehold property should maintain a strategy for disposals, including assessing the potential of their existing assets for alternative beneficial uses (see GovS 004, 5.4 Asset disposals, and functional guidance ‘Managing Surplus Government Property’). Analysis of options should assess the potential benefits of a disposal alongside the whole life cost of retaining an asset in its current use. Decision-making should utilise information on whether an alternative use would have a market value exceeding that of the existing use: this should take a whole-of-government perspective, including potentially delivering a government priority and/or increased social value.

Wherever possible, government property asset management should support economic development and regeneration. The Government Property Community contains functional guidance including the title ‘Managing Surplus Government Property’, and a discussion forum for property professional issues.

Question 7

Annex 1- Strategic Asset Management Plans: for publication

Accepted Answer

(See GovS 004, 3.4, 4.1.3, 4.3.3)

Examples of a typical separation of responsibilities:

SAMP Responsibility	Client	Delivery Organisation
Governance and Resourcing of Intelligent Client role	Yes
Department Workforce Strategy: setting key parameters (numbers, change foreseen, attendance policies)	Yes
Workplace needs of the organisation	Yes
Locations: PfG plans, operational requirements, volumes, services	Yes
Budget: setting property spend, capital, revenue / rent	Yes	Yes
Portfolio management (portfolio change and efficiency)		Yes
Sustainability: Net Zero pathway, adaptation, utility costs		Yes
Facilities Management contracts, plans		Yes
User satisfaction monitoring		Yes
Property Profession capability plans	Yes	Yes

Question 9

Annex 3 - Setting out sustainability plans in your SAMP:

Accepted Answer

SAMP sustainability content (or cross-referencing) should set out how department estate management will support government priorities, policy drivers and legal obligations.

Key legislation, policy and strategy affecting property:

Main areas of focus in line with Government Property Sustainability Strategy:

Estate Decarbonisation & Energy Efficiency

The SAMP should set out status overview and any proposed trajectory to Net Zero through plans to increase energy efficiency and decarbonise the estate. The OGP Property Emissions Reduction Calculator can be used to analyse asset portfolios and provide a forward look based on potential low-carbon interventions. For any owned property leased to or from other parties, provide synopsis of any strategy to navigate MEES

Estate Resilience - Adaptation to Climate Change

Provide status and outline of any strategy for resilience to climate change (impacts of extreme heat and flood events). Information on any risk assessments and climate adaptation plans to protect operations and service delivery.

Estate Natural Capital - Nature Recovery and Biodiversity

Any synopsis of the state of natural capital on the estate or plans to establish the current picture and outline of any proposals or improvement strategy.

Estate Resource Efficiency - Water & Waste

Set out status and any strategy to reduce estate waste generation and water consumption.

Detailed guidance on approaches to sustainability for property estates

Public Sector Decarbonisation Guidance

Available after registration at gpp.civilservice.gov.uk

Question 10

Annex 4 - Setting out your plans for facilities management and investment in building maintenance:

Accepted Answer

SAMP content should set out how:

facilities management arrangements support the organisational business plan
plans for investment and ongoing funding of maintenance will bring it up to and maintain it at a satisfactory condition
facilities management arrangements will support government missions, policy drivers and legal obligations
plans will achieve compliance with government facilities management standards and adherence to the government facilities management strategy and better buildings management guidance.

In order to adequately demonstrate the department’s plans for facilities management and investment in building maintenance, it is anticipated that the SAMP will contain summaries of the following:

FM Strategy and Delivery Model

Overall aim and key objectives of the FM strategy
Their current FM delivery model and overall annual FM spend
Summary of the FM procurement pipeline
Summary of the workplace strategy
Integration of FM and Sustainability
Integration of FM and Asset Management

Maintenance Policy Summary

Measures in place to understand and manage future maintenance liability (forward maintenance registers, condition surveys etc)
Relevant plans to reduce maintenance gap (cost to bring property to satisfactory condition) and any required improvement to estate condition (specifying where it will be subject to future funding bids)
Other relevant details about the approach to Maintenance and Whole Life Asset Management
Management of property event pipeline(s) including leasehold and freehold properties, identifying acquisitions/ disposals
Management of investment pipelines – plans for major investment in estate (including projects to address new demand, building condition improvements, safety/sustainability improvements)

Building Condition and Maintenance Budget Summary

Summary data setting out the current condition of the estate
Percentage of estate with Condition Survey in last 5 years
Percentage of estate with Forward Maintenance Register (in the last 3 years)
Condition rating for percentage of estate assets 1A/B/C/D (to InSite data standard)
Backlog maintenance total = £
Required annual maintenance and life cycle need (from Building Maintenance Need Calculator) = £
- Actual 24/25 annual maintenance and life cycle budget = £
- Profile any other spend on property in the foreseeable period (to end SR), distinguishing between capital and revenue

Current FM Risk Summary

Risks and likely impact on service delivery of any underinvestment in property maintenance, with current and planned mitigation.
- Strategic Risks
- Operational Risks
- Staff Related Risks
- Financial Risks
- Legislative Risks
- Asset Risks
Risk Value - £ (from Risk Value Estimator)

Supporting the Government FM Strategy

Goal 4 - FM professionals equipped with effective skills and capabilities
- Plans to increase the number of FM professionals within the Government Property Profession with professional accreditation.
- Plans to increase the number of FM apprentices and Fast Streamers within FM teams.
Goal 5 - Effective standards, tools, technology and organisation
- Plans to achieve maturity standard of “Good” against FMS001
Goal 8 - Standardised and assured FM data and analysis
- Plans to achieve maturity standard of “Good” against FMS002
- Plans to increase the number of FM people with GPP career framework analytical decision making technical skill levels of Working and Practitioner”

Compliance with Government Functional Standard - GovS 004: Property

GOVS 004 - 5.3.3 - Maintenance and operation
- Plan to ensure that condition and energy survey requirements are met (at least every five years)
- Plan to ensure that management information is available for quarterly reporting and can be used as a basis for budgeting expenditure on repair, replacement and refurbishment
GOVS 004 - 5.3.3 - Maintenance and operation
- Plan to ensure that building and land assets shall be assessed regularly for safety risks
GOVS 004 - 6.3.6 - Performance reporting
- Plan to ensure monitoring and reporting on the performance of the estate, using Better Building metrics specified for use across government. (May be contained in the property function Performance Management Framework data.)

Future Condition and Need

Projected change in building condition and annual maintenance need (from Building Maintenance Need Calculator)

OGP Facilities Management and Better Buildings programmes publish standards, guidance and tools to support departments.

Specific tools mentioned above:

FMS007.3 Calculation of Maintenance Need
FMS007.4 Risk Value Estimator
FMS007.5 Evaluating Backlog Maintenance
FMS001 Maturity Tool
FMS002 Maturity Tool

Supporting documents:

Facilities Management:
- Government FM Strategy
- FMS001 FM Standard
- FMS002 FM Asset Data Standard
Better Buildings:
- FMS006.1 Better Buildings for Government Property
- FMS006.2 Condition, Risk, Investment and Backlog Maturity Assessment
- FMS007.1 Building Complexity Assessment
- FMS007.2 Building Condition Ratings
- FMS007.6 Responsible Maintenance Guidance for Accounting Officers

Template:

Organisational SAMPS - FM Section White Label Template:
- To be tailored to suit individual portfolios

The concept of a ‘SAMP’ used here is a planning framework combining property strategy and delivery plans (including relevant programmes and projects) within their context of priorities, risk, resources and governance. This is a broader perspective than some definitions of asset management (strategy or plans). A SAMP for government organisations should encompass their entire estate/ asset portfolio/s (including ALB or other organisations) and the property function (incl. process, systems, and resources) responsible for management, outlining future action. ↩
‘Holds’ includes any form of tenure under agreement by assignment, licence, lease, tenancy agreement, freehold (etc.) and all property owned, occupied or vested in the organisation, whether currently used or not – in effect, anything giving rise to property costs. ↩
The terms ‘property’ or ‘property assets’ include all kinds of real estate, comprising land, buildings or infrastructure in urban, rural or marine territory, within the United Kingdom or overseas, owned or held by the government of the United Kingdom. (See Glossary, GovS 004). ↩
RICS Strategic Public Sector Asset Management 3rd Edition ↩
It is recommended that this version of the SAMP should not be described as a ‘summary’ or ‘executive summary’ to discourage the expectation that a more complete document is available. (The ‘working copies’ are not for publication.) A preferable description is ‘Published SAMP’. Where a request is made to the Cabinet Office for information contained within the document, the Cabinet Office will consult the originating organisation to consider whether exemptions apply under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Typical SAMP content may be exempt for security, health and safety, commercial or other reasons, although each FOI request will be considered on its individual merits. ↩
The Government Property Sustainability Strategy, published for the first time in 2022, sets out the activities that the Property Function will undertake in order to support the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs): these are the environmental targets set for government departments for the period 2021-2025. This component of a SAMP should show how a department is planning to deliver their GGC targets, taking account of the Commitments and the Strategy. It is expected that government organisations will develop their own sustainability strategies, decarbonisation plans, adaptation action plans, and nature recovery plans as required under the GGCs. These should be identified within the SAMP as a component part, possibly using links to other documents. ↩
Responsibility refers to someone’s duty to carry out a task to completion; accountability is concerned with the consequences of actions, possibly by others, rather than the duty to carry these actions out. ↩
Delivery organisations include the Government Property Agency, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, FCDO Services, NHS Property Services, and other service providers. For a more specific breakdown of roles and responsibilities where departments have transferred some or all of their property assets, see Annex 2. ↩
See Property Event Forward Look Pipelines in Property spend control policy guidance, 5.6.2 ↩
‘Central Government’ is defined by the Office of National Statistics (‘ONS’) and includes Government Departments and their ALBs: Executive Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Non Ministerial Departments, and any other non-market bodies controlled and mainly financed by them. ↩
Consider increases in demand, or reductions in demand, and could be as a result of one or more of the following: - Organisational restructure / change in operating model (including for example insourcing or outsourcing of FM services), - Planned uplift (or reduction) in certain property activities (e.g. additional new build projects; or fewer asset disposals) including likely regional variations, - Likely flight risks / staff turnover, - Difficult to fill roles / known recruitment challenges (including long-term vacant posts), or current skills shortages you already contend with, - Planned early talent intakes (apprenticeship, graduates or Fast Stream) ↩

Category	Present (at last year-end)	Future (expected outcome by next year-end or remainder of SR plan period)
Total land area
Total building floorspace
Number of locations
Total property running cost per year
Capital expenditure budget per year
Total number of employees (headcount / FTE)
Business volumes Use any appropriate headline metric, e.g. clients, payments, operations, deliveries (per year)
Utilisation (intensity of use: people or business transactions per unit of area (floorspace or land)
Condition data (proportion of estate with survey data <5 years old)

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