Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the value of savings accrued from government land and property by the Government Property Unit since 2010; and what the running costs of the Government Property Unit have been since 2010.

The Government Property Unit (GPU) was established in 2010 to work with central government departments to drive savings across the central civil mandated estate. From 2010 to 2015, we have reduced our estate by 2 million square metres, and 2,200 individual properties have been vacated.This has saved £845 million in running costs and generated over £2.7 billion in capital receipts since 2010.

We are taking our ambitions further, with a commitment to release at least £5bn of government owned land and property by 2020 which will make a significant contribution to reducing the deficit, stimulating growth, and releasing land for housing.

Funding was agreed at Spending Review for GPU’s programmes, including our Government Hubs Programme, which is driving a radical reshaping of the Civil Service office estate and for our One Public Estate Programme which works with local authorities to deliver better services, achieve savings and deliver local growth including releasing land for new homes and jobs.

The average running costs for GPU since 2010 are £3.8 million per annum.