The Government Property Agency has appointed JLL as its strategic partner for workplace services performance.
The initial three and a half year contract, with two one-year extension options, was awarded following a “robust and comprehensive procurement process”, the GPA said this morning.
The GPA’s Workplace Services Director, Dominic Brankin, said: “We are working with all government departments to help them deliver their business needs, supported by best-in-class strategic partners to ensure we deliver a transformed, shared, sustainable and value-for-money government estate. We want to use space well and provide a workplace experience which supports civil servants to work productively in every nation and region of the UK.”
The contract is a key element of the GPA’s plan to transform the way in which the government’s office estate is managed and operated.
Under the terms JLL will handle mobilisation and demobilisation support, as well as provide data management and analysis, cost review and management, and reporting. It will also provide call-off support for property transfers, strategic advice, technical support, training, business continuity and disaster recovery.
JLL will see that the portfolio is optimised for resilience and business continuity, while reducing any operational downtime. It will also improve digital solutions and streamline service support, while operating a national helpdesk to streamline customer support across the GPA’s portfolio.
It will also ensure that the GPA achieves its zero carbon targets, through improved building conditions.
JLL Work Dynamics’ divisional president, Steve Lawlor, said: “We will build collaborative relationships with the GPA’s appointed providers to ensure consistent and efficient execution, use data to drive continuous improvement, and apply technology and our expertise to make the GPA’s property portfolio smaller, better and greener. We’re excited, not only to make this new model a success for government properties in the UK, but also the example for other governments to follow.”
In December the GPA’s plans to manage its £158bn UK-wide property portfolio were dismissed as lacking ambition and out-of-date by the Public Accounts Committee.
It’s report said that approach for the estate, which costs £22bn a year to maintain, were out of sync with current market conditions and lacking in ambition to reduce costs.
It also labelled the GPA “handicapped” in achieving planned reforms by ageing IT systems and incomplete data on post-pandemic office usage, with the risk that taxpayers are locked into long-term, high-cost leases.
