The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) will benchmark the performance of all central government property and provide the service for the wider public sector as part of plans to improve the efficiency of the civil service estate.
Through its Property Benchmarking Service, launched in 2006, the OGC provides public sector asset managers with the tools to measure, analyse and report on the business contribution of their real estate assets. It wants all property across the public sector to be more cost-effective and perform in line with the private sector so has now extended the scheme.
The service is part of the OGC’s ‘High Performing Property’ initiative, designed to get best value out of government real estate, which aims to save £1.5bn annually by 2013.
It is mandatory across Whitehall for buildings over 5,000 sq ft and the OGC said it had already improved property management in central government.
The new four year, extended framework, in association with IPD Occupiers, will allow the service to develop further across all public sector property.
Nigel Smith, OGC Chief Executive said: ‘The property benchmarking service has already seen success in central Government and by providing access to the wider public sector we hope to spread the best practice and benefits that it can bring. In the current economic climate it is essential that public sector organisations utilise tools and initiatives that can help to guarantee them value for money. This service will do just that.
‘From the work the OGC has already done on improving the government estate, we have concluded that improved use of workspace is the most effective way of achieving significant efficiency savings from the public sector’s property portfolio. It will also have a beneficial impact on the sustainability performance of the public sector estate.’
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