In a time of constrained resources, it has never been more important for the public and private sectors to work together
There is an enormous opportunity to increase the efficient use of public sector space, reduce costs, improve energy efficiency and support modern ways of working – and this rationalisation can also facilitate regeneration and economic growth.
In a time of constrained resources, it has never been more important for the public and private sectors to work together and harness the strength of both. Critical to success will be open and transparent partnership arrangements, with mutual benefits and incentives when surplus properties are sold.
Such partnerships depend on clearly understood shared goals and we are seeing more such partnerships; there are some interesting models in the Ministry of Defence, for instance.
In my 38-year career, I have spent time in both the public and private sectors, with the past 15 years of my working life spent in the private sector, working in partnership with the public sector. I have seen significant change over that time but there is still more we need to do to change the mindset of "public sector good, private sector bad", or vice versa, which still too often arises.
My close engagement with the public sector started in 1998, when the now Department for Work and Pensions decided to outsource its real estate, construction and facilities management functions in what was a groundbreaking deal, not only because of the range of activities covered in the contract, but also because was based on results. More importantly, our government counterparts at that timetaught us about the need to really engage with and understand the demands and constraints of delivering public services to the end user.
Since then, the department has cut its estate footprint by over 30% and reduced its running costs by £250m a year. It has also improved the quality of its offices, supported modern ways of working and significantly raised levels of customer satisfaction. We were an integral part of the change programme which transformed unattractive dole offices to modern, open-plan job centres.
A key ingredient in our joint success has been working through challenges together. . This is the key lesson – driving for mutual, albeit potentially changing, objectives that we need to capture in new ways of working between public and private organisations.
It has never been more important for both the public and private sectors to maximise their strengths. This does require new ways of working and an increased trust between public commissioners and private suppliers. From my experience the prize is well worth striving for.
Ian Ellis is executive chairman of Telereal Trillium
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