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In a joint venture with the publisher of The MJ, a new information website – Governetzpublicproperty.com – covering public property is being launched. Its director, Nicholas Werran, describes its content. If you are responsible for public sector property, here's something free to help you. Property and estate management in government is set to be the catalyst for major public sector reform in the age of austerity. The coming weeks are going to be extremely interesting for those responsible for public sector property Perceptions are swiftly changing. Property is shedding its image as a niche, ‘anorak' issue, best-kept well away from the boardroom. Now the strategic use of property in delivering more for less, is firmly embedded, and government property professionals are gaining greater levels of recognition within their organisations. In local government, the Total Place initiative has seen property assume a central role in shaping the delivery of public services. Last week, the Government announced the creation, for the first time, of a pan-government community of public sector property professionals. And shortly, we expect advance notice of the next phase of relocating civil service posts from Whitehall to the English regions. Looking ahead to next week's Budget, we can confidently expect the public sector to be tasked with doing even more to reduce the UK's national debt. The £385bn public sector property estate will play a strategic role in answering some difficult questions of public finance. It will, more than likely, require central government, local government, NDPBs, the NHS and the emergency services to find even more ways to tap into skilled property management in order to unlock savings and deliver value for money. Government property issues are at heart, all about service delivery. Every element of public service delivery, from childcare to healthcare has corporate property implications. Furthermore, there is a great commonality across the entire public sector, in terms of the necessary skills and solutions to address the problems at hand. Asset management, estates rationalisation, co-location and the sustainability agenda have the potential to deliver an authentic, silo-busting, ‘joined-up government' in a way the fabled e-government revolution never could. But property management isn't just a way to cut costs. When done well, it can be a foundation for service improvement and protection, inward investment, increased staff morale, increased sharing of services, regeneration, new, more effective ways of working, more effective public sector collaboration focused on citizens, and many more of the goals we strive towards in the public sector. That's a complicated question to which Governetzpublicproperty.com hopes to give a full answer. Our remit is to guide public sector property professionals through the ins and outs of the government property revolution. Indeed, given the scale of the challenges ahead, public sector property professionals need a comprehensive information source providing coverage of all the main issues, as well as case studies and more sector-specific information. Governetzpublicproperty.com launches next week as the UK's only information portal totally dedicated to public sector property management. If you register to the site, we will make sure you are kept informed on all the ways property can help you not only cut costs but also protect and improve the services you deliver. Registering will give you free access to the first national Public Property EXPO taking place later in the year over two days at the QEII Conference Centre, Westminster, on 23 and 24 November. Written by a community of public sector property experts and supported by the editorial staff of The MJ, LocalGov and Local Government News, the site will keep people responsible for public sector property up-to-speed with the latest news and developments, in touch with what peers overcoming similar challenges are doing and crucially, offer a consistent, balanced view of the best in public sector property management. The coming weeks are going to be extremely interesting for those responsible for public sector property. Make sure we keep you in the know by registering for free online at www.governetzpublicproperty.com

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WHITEHALL

A new online resource for public property specialists

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