The Scottish Government

Page: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] ...[12]

Recommendations

13. The over-arching purpose of this review is to bring more consistency to the current arrangements for managing the government estate in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

13.3 The Scottish Government will work together with Scottish public bodies and agencies to develop an approach to important asset management decisions that will allow organisations to manage their assets, while also recognising the wider corporate interest of Scottish Government, and thereby setting a standard of best practice.

13.4 The following recommendations will help to address this. Annex G sets out an implementation time-table.

Recommendation 1. To ensure all parts of Scottish Government have an Asset Management Plan in place.

Only by having asset management plans in place can Ministers be assured that property holders are regularly considering how to maximise the best possible use of their assets. A centralised, but light touch, co-ordination function could then be aware of what property may become vacant over future years and consider brokering co-locations or obtain better deals through economies of scale.

All parts of Scottish Government should draw up Asset Management plans by end April 2008, tying the current and anticipated future use of their assets to that organisation's objectives and remit and those of the wider Scottish Government. Further consideration needs to be given to possible confidentiality issues that may arise from making future plans public. The plans do not need to be highly detailed, nor to include information of a confidential or commercially sensitive nature. The plans should also be proportionate to the size, extent and value of the estate owned leased or managed by each body. A suggested template for an asset management plan for a typical small public body is included at Annex D.

Recommendation 2. To maintain a mandatory, single, comprehensive database of property information.

To promote and assist high quality decision making and best use of assets, there is a need to ensure clarity and consistency of estate data. The use of a common management information system is central to achieving this. It is recommended that the use of a single, comprehensive and up-to-date database that is properly resourced and managed, with clear lines of accountability, be made mandatory across all of the government estate.

The e-PIMS system should continue to be used as it provides a database of basic asset management information at a minimum cost. Additionally, it enables information across the public sector to be shared more easily.

e-PIMS is a secure system. It is internet-based, but it does not provide open access. All users must be registered and authorised by the Office of Government Commerce. Individual users can be allocated a certain level of rights according to the needs of their organisation, and all users can view high level address details for all the UK civil estate property records held on the system.

The current resources for managing the e-PIMS system within government should be bolstered to assist a proactive approach to maintaining the database, to provide pro-active intervention and to minimise the current risks.

The management of the e-PIMS system should be co-ordinated from one property centre where each organisation has an agreement to update e-PIMS for their own estate or an agreement to provide the leading or central property centre with the information they need to update e-PIMS whenever an event occurs.

The management responsibilities for e-PIMS should be simplified to foster clearer lines of accountability.

The system for monitoring and implementing MOTOs should be improved to eliminate the inconsistencies that exist across the estate.

Recommendation 3 To agree a set of roles, responsibilities and expectations regarding the management of assets.

Each and every part of government should, as a minimum, have an asset management plan or strategy in place, record and keep up to date their property asset data on the ePIMS system, adhere to SPFM and Green Book principles, and undertake performance management, monitoring and benchmarking. The Scottish Government will also identify a 'champion' on its Strategic Board to ensure that the profile of asset management is raised. To enable more effective sharing and co-location, all future leases for administrative workspace should be approved by Scottish Ministers.

Recommendation 4. To ensure that the mandatory procedures in place, within the SPFM and 'Green Book', for disposals of surplus or vacant property, and for acquisitions are known and adhered to.

The principles set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual and 'Green Book' should be promoted across the government network of organisations to ensure their consistent use. This will ensure that when Scottish Ministers and auditors examine proposals for property investment and disinvestment, the recommendations have been through a rigorous procedure and are supported by a Green Book appraisal giving a range of options each with a Net Present Value and a weighted score attached in support of the recommendation.

Recommendation 5. To implement the use of agreed, standardised performance targets and benchmarking criteria for land/buildings to help achieve continuous improvement in the performance of the estate.

Setting performance management benchmarks and improvement targets can lead to significant property service improvements and the realisation of efficiency savings. This is particularly important if the rationalisation of bodies resulting from 'Simplification of the Public Sector Delivery Landscape' leads to significant surplus office space. If we are to maximise the benefits of this, we need to establish benchmarks as quickly as possible. The Scottish Government should agree and adopt basic key performance indicators and consider setting performance targets or parameters, including:

• Cost per m2; which examines the overall cost-effectiveness of the estate;

• m2 per person; which measures how efficiently the organisation uses its buildings.

In addition, organisations should recognise the significant role of buildings in contributing to carbon emissions and should adhere to the 'Environmental Performance of Public Bodies Initiative', to demonstrate best practice across the government estate.

Recommendation 6. To promote the use of financial asset management incentives.

For all parts of government to improve the efficient and effective use of assets, the financial incentives of doing so must be explained and promoted, including the retention by each organisation of capital and revenue efficiency gains derived from their assets. Public Service Reform and Efficient Government Division should promote the search for, and recording of, efficiency gains from better asset management across government. Organisations could be incentivised to achieve savings by being allowed to recycle funds for necessary expenditure on new or improved services or benefits. The scale of savings retained and their consequent reinvestment, would need to be considered in each case to demonstrate delivery of efficiencies or increases in outputs.

Recommendation 7. To ensure all parts of Scottish Government consider appropriate potential development and improvement opportunities.

A central team, such as the current Property Advice Division, should maintain a strategic overview, challenge function and identify best opportunities for the future use of property assets across the central government estate. Where there is a need to consider accommodation requirements in implementing 'Simplification of the Public Sector Delivery Landscape', organisations should work with PAD to deliver the best outcome.

Recommendation 8. To undertake a further Review of the management arrangements and issues concerning the rural and undeveloped land estates held by Scottish Ministers.

Further consideration should be given to the issues arising from the management of the government's rural estate - covering the 53 Highland estates, the Lowland estate, the agricultural research estate, Crofters Commission's farms and Forestry Commission Scotland's holdings.

Page: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] ...[12]