Commercial relocation encouraged for councils

Monday, March 01, 2010

Local authorities encourage to consider commercial relocation.

By Ashley Brunskill

Commercial relocation could be one measure that could help to cut costs and that might be on the cards for local public bodies, if recent suggestions are anything to go by.

A report by the Department for Communities and Local Government suggested that buildings and staff should be shared by councils to ensure that frontline services remain in place.

Communities secretary John Denham said: "Today my taskforce, ably led by Steve Bullock and Richard Leese, has set out ten decisive steps councils can take to protect local services."

He added that these include sharing back office roles like HR and IT, using the same chief executive at two councils and bringing services together under one roof.

Increases of more than 20 per cent in business rates for some central London office locations this April could accelerate the demolition of empty buildings, it has recently been suggested.

Source: ask-re The Property People LLP