The UK government's expansive property estate plays a vital role in the daily delivery of essential public services and in supporting national priorities. The Government Property Strategy 2022-2030 acknowledges this significance and sets ambitious goals for a comprehensive transformation of government property management. This transformation involves three core missions: reshaping places and services, creating a smaller, better, and greener estate, and improving professional excellence and insight within the Government Property Function. Achieving these goals requires innovative solutions, and technology has emerged as a powerful tool with the potential to optimise property management and drive efficiency across the public sector.
This guide delves into how technology and software solutions can be instrumental in helping the UK government achieve its strategic objectives. It examines the specific features and functions of these systems, analyses their potential benefits, and addresses the challenges and limitations of implementing technology in the context of government property management.
The Government Property Strategy 2022-2030 provides a roadmap for the future of the UK government's property estate. It aims to create a property portfolio that is not only efficient and sustainable but also effectively supports the delivery of public services and contributes to broader government priorities, such as levelling up and economic growth.
Central to this strategy is the establishment of the Government Property Agency (GPA), which plays a crucial role in managing the government's office and logistics estates. The GPA is responsible for consolidating and rationalising these estates, delivering cost savings, providing workplace services, and investing in new offices that support the Places for Growth agenda.
To effectively manage its vast property holdings, the government has categorised its assets into twelve distinct portfolios, each with a lead department responsible for its management. This categorisation allows for a more strategic and focused approach to property management, ensuring that each portfolio is managed according to its specific needs and objectives.
Underpinning the strategy is the Government Functional Standard for Property, a set of standards and guidelines that apply to all government departments and their arms-length bodies. This standard promotes consistency and best practices in property management across the government, ensuring that all departments adhere to the same high standards of efficiency, sustainability, and value for money.
The strategy's commitment to customer experience is also noteworthy. Recognising that the users of government properties are ultimately the citizens who rely on public services, the strategy emphasises the importance of providing high-quality, user-friendly spaces that meet the needs of civil servants, nurses, teachers, and the public.
To achieve its ambitious vision, the strategy has set specific targets and key performance indicators (KPIs). These include financial targets, such as delivering £500m of cumulative resource savings from operating costs and generating £500m per annum in gross capital receipts from disposals by 2025, as well as targets related to sustainability, space utilization, and professional development.
The strategy's three core missions are summarized in the following table:
Mission |
Description |
Key Objectives |
Transform Places and Services |
Leverage property to support levelling up, regeneration, and housing supply. |
Relocate civil service jobs outside London; invest in local communities; improve public service delivery through co-location and flexible estate design; relocate 50% of UK-based Senior Civil Service roles outside Greater London by 2030. |
A Smaller, Better, and Greener Public Estate |
Create a more efficient, effective, and sustainable government property portfolio. |
Transform the estate to meet modern service requirements; reduce operating costs; achieve net-zero goals; implement sustainability initiatives such as LED lighting upgrades and building management system projects. |
Improve Professional Excellence and Insight |
Enhance the skills and expertise of the Government Property Function. |
Improve data collection and analysis; promote professional accreditation; drive consistency in property management practices. |
Technology is revolutionising the property management landscape by automating tasks, providing data-driven insights, and optimising operations. Property management software and other technological solutions offer a range of features that can support the UK government in achieving its strategic goals:
While technology offers significant potential for transforming government property management, it's crucial to acknowledge the challenges and limitations associated with its implementation.
Data-related challenges:
Ethical and Societal Challenges:
Implementation Challenges:
To overcome these challenges and maximise the benefits of technology in UK government property management, a strategic and well-planned approach is essential.
Here are some key recommendations:
Technology has the potential to revolutionise UK government property management, enabling the achievement of strategic goals outlined in the Government Property Strategy 2022-2030. By automating tasks, providing data-driven insights, and optimising operations, technology solutions can help create a smaller, better, and greener public estate while improving service delivery and professional excellence. Technology can contribute to the government's levelling up agenda by enabling more efficient management of properties and play a crucial role in improving data collection and analysis, which is key to achieving the "Improve Professional Excellence and Insight" mission.
However, successful technology implementation requires careful planning, investment in data infrastructure, and a commitment to addressing ethical considerations. The UK government agencies must prioritise data quality and security, address bias and promote fairness, build public trust and transparency, invest in skills and training, and foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. By taking these steps, the government can harness the transformative power of technology to optimise its property portfolio, deliver better value for the taxpayer, and create a more efficient and sustainable public sector.
As an advocate for the use of technology in asset management, I am confident that technology can play a transformative role in the public sector. By embracing technology and addressing its challenges responsibly, the UK government can unlock significant benefits and create a property estate that truly serves the needs of its citizens and supports national priorities.
Sources