Councils have made only modest progress in managing property assets, with only just one in 14 authorities considered ‘exemplary', the Audit Commission has reported. A study by the watchdog published on 17 June urges improved use of local government's collective £250bn property portfolio, which includes council housing stock, schools, libraries and leisure centres. The report compares councils against best practice outlined by the commission in 2000. ‘Progress over nine years on managing their estates has effectively been modest. ‘One-third of councils do not yet share offices or facilities with other local public bodies and, overall, they have spent £1.2bn more on buying or refurbishing their offices than they have raked in from sales,' the study states. The commission claims the CLG is partly to blame ‘for not making it clear what was expected of councils, and failing to offer incentives to use assets more frugally'. The LGA rejected the commission's assessment. Cllr Margaret Eaton, LGA chair, said: ‘On the Audit Commission's own figures, councils have made big improvements on how they manage local buildings. ‘The number of councils failing to meet minimum standards has been slashed from 86 four years ago to just 24 today, while the number of councils judged as performing consistently or well above minimum requirements has risen from 162 to 210.' But auditors said they were ‘sceptical' because, when measured against a tighter standard in 2007, the performance of a sizeable number of councils deteriorated. Audit Commission deputy chairman, Bharat Shah, added: ‘While some councils have reaped the benefits of good asset management, many lack the capacity or even the basic information to support strategic planning. ‘This leaves them badly placed to deal with the tougher times ahead and the new, stricter strategic asset management standards set for the Comprehensive Area Assessment.'
