The government will carry out a strategic asset review ahead of the next spending review that will aim to save £1bn, the Treasury has announced.
Departments will aim to make the savings by 2030 by selling off, and generating new income from, public sector assets – including through “leveraging public sector data assets”, according to documents published alongside the Budget today.
The review will “identify opportunities to monetise assets and address barriers to disposals”, the red book says.
It will take place alongside a review of value for money across government spending that will be conducted by the chief secretary to the Treasury, which will examine – among other things – value for money in the maintenance of public sector assets.
Both reviews will be completed ahead of the next spending review, which will take place in 2027.
The reviews will be informed by a new Balance Sheet Framework published today, which “[sets] out for the first time a comprehensive approach to managing the assets and liabilities that the government holds on behalf of the taxpayer”.
“An efficiently managed balance sheet ensures there is a clear policy or public interest reason for all assets held. While assets represent value on the balance sheet, depending on the type of asset they also bring costs, like maintenance, legal or administrative costs,” the framework document says.
“It is therefore important to regularly review assets to ensure that public resources are being used efficiently. This ensures that assets which no longer serve a policy purpose, and that cannot be repurposed for alternative use in the public sector, are disposed.”
Departments’ bids for funding submitted to the Treasury at regular spending reviews “should be underpinned” by their asset-management plans, according to the framework document.
It adds that departments may also identify opportunities to dispose of assets between SR cycles, and that these should be assessed “as and when the opportunity arises”.
Under the framework, assets will be considered as part of one of three portfolios: social, including assets involved in delivery of social objectives and public goods – such as schools, hospitals, government buildings, prisons, defence infrastructure and local roads; commercial, meaning entities wholly or partially owned and/or controlled by government that seek to generate revenue and are operating commercially, as well as assets created by financial transactions, such as the British Business Bank and Ordnance Survey; and funds and liabilities, including funded public sector pensions, borrowings and the Bank of England.
The £1bn savings target comes on top of existing plans to raise at least £1bn by 2030 selling off “surplus estate”. Those savings will be reinvested in the government’s property portfolio “to improve its condition and sustainability”, Spending Review 2025 documents said.