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“Departments and agencies have had a reputation for delivering construction projects that were late or over budget and designing buildings that were not cost effective to operate. There has, however, been a considerable improvement in performance since my last report on the subject in 2001 and one of the significant contributory factors to this progress has been the work of the OGC in promulgating best construction practice, providing support to departments, and applying the Gateway Review scrutiny process to construction projects. Departments cannot, however, be complacent. There remains scope for further improvement and my report makes recommendations and highlights good practice that will enable departments to achieve better performance and identifies how the OGC can support them through its advisory and support activities to deliver maximum benefit in improving construction capability and performance across the wider public sector. Even if only 20 per cent of these improvements are practicable this would still release some £500 million to be reinvested in frontline public services or higher quality built assets to deliver improved public services.”

“Government departments have a challenging time ahead in addressing the efficiency of their office accommodation. There are positive signs of departments beginning to engage with the issue, but there is still a vast amount of change required. Government is still a long way from achieving full value from its office estate.”