Isra-Mart srl: Councils could save £15bn by sharing buildings, says Eric Pickles

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Local councils and frontline services, such as health visitors and fire fighters, will today be urged to share buildings in an attempt to cut carbon and shave up to £15bn off public sector spending.

A report by the cross-parliamentary Westminster Sustainable Business Forum will show co-location of services raises productivity of a workforce by up to £8bn a year, as result of better communication, enhanced efficiency, and integrated building services.

The £8bn productivity boost is on top of a £7bn saving in property costs identified in an earlier report by the Forum, resulting in total potential savings of £15bn.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles will launch the report today, urging civil servants "to be ruthless in the pursuit of good value - and utterly unforgiving of bureaucracy".

"The best councils are doing everything in their power to make taxpayers' money go further. Cutting out waste, sharing back offices and redesigning services," he will say.

"This report clearly shows how it is possible to deliver real savings and other benefits. The expertise is there, the experience is there. Time to get on and do it".

However, Conservative MP Matthew Hancock, who chairs the committee, said a major shift in mindset across the public sector will be needed to achieve the promised savings.

He told BusinessGreen that the public sector must no longer "hoard" buildings as an asset, but view them as a cost which should be reduced.

"Once that change of mindset has been made then a lot of the benefits should unlock themselves," he said.

He also admitted that there was a security risk of co-locating public services - a concern which needed to be addressed if greater sharing of buildings is to take place.

However, despite these challenges, the report shows a number of cases where co-location has been a success.

For example, shared services across Hampshire were found to save up to £324m, reducing both operational costs and carbon by up 50 per cent.

"When I began interviewing people a year ago, this was viewed as a radical idea, but now its becoming to become widespread thinking," added Hancock. "This prize is obtainable."