Government to Consolidate Estate By Selling £1.5bn of Property

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01 September 2022

Under a new Government Property Strategy, ministers hope to make over £2 billion in savings through property sales and “efficiencies”.

Announced by Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency Jacob Rees-Mogg, £1.5 billion of government properties will be sold over the next three years.

£500 million of savings will also be made by reducing operating costs, implementing urgent decarbonisation interventions across the estate and using modern construction materials and energy sources.

Justifying Spending on Government Properties

Jacob Rees-Mogg has always been outspoken about his view that all spending on government property needs to be justified. In a letter to his cabinet colleagues sent in April 2022, he urged civil servants to reduce how much time they spend working from home, to ensure “efficient use of the central London estate".

In the foreword to the strategy, Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote “It is always important that every property held by the government is efficient, functional and well utilised. It is also essential that the government estate is beautiful and will stand the test of time, while being greener and more sustainable in line with our net-zero commitments by 2050.

“Properties that are not needed will be sold, which, in turn, will support other government priorities such as economic growth, housing and jobs, working in partnership with local government and other partners through programmes such as One Public Estate.”

Moving Government Roles Out of London

Under the Government Hubs programme, staff will be consolidated into fewer, localised buildings, acting as destination places to work for civil servants

The Places for Growth programme will also move 22,000 civil service roles out of London by 2030. The scheme has already relocated 7,000 jobs out of the capital, including 1,389 moved to Yorkshire & the Humber.

The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Department for Health and Social Care have moved more than 500 roles to Leeds.

Picture: a photograph of the Palace of Westminster. Image Credit: Unsplash

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 01 September 2022

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