Public sector organisations are constantly evolving in response to operational pressures and to meet the changing needs of users. As this happens and new investment is made, older assets can become surplus to requirement or underutilised. The running cost of property is already one of the major expenses in our budget, so holding on to property that is not required to deliver policies diverts money away from frontline services and must be tackled urgently.
As part of this Investment Strategy, therefore, all departments and their sponsored bodies will develop and publish comprehensive plans for the strategic management of the public estate under their stewardship - spelling out the savings they intend to secure.
As an integral part of their plans, departments will identify those assets that are no longer required or underutilised and set out how they intend to realise value for reinvestment in priority areas under this Investment Strategy. Such facilities and sites can be reused by other public bodies or, where appropriate, the value inherent in our assets can be unlocked and used to bring about additional capital investment. Although current market conditions are not favourable for an extensive programme of asset disposals, potential opportunities for sales or other innovative approaches will be considered, taking account of value for money considerations.