Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 3
29th Report - Condition of Government property
Published 11 Jun 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Condition of Government properties All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Many departments’ property plans lack the information necessary to manage and maintain their portfolios. Departments are required to prepare Strategic Asset Management Plans (SAMPs) to consider the totality of their assets and document their planned approach to managing maintenance and disposals in the longer term, including documenting any property risks and how they plan to manage and mitigate them. Departments’ SAMPs are currently of varying quality, and different levels of maturity. The Ministry of Defence needs to urgently create a long–term strategic plan to redevelop the service personnel housing estate as part of its SAMP. Departments are also expected to include data from their arm’s–length bodies (ALBs) in individual SAMPs, unless the ALB prepares a separate SAMP. Departments do not have sufficient oversight of some ALBs with large property portfolios and their information does not feed sufficiently into departmental SAMPs. The OGP requires ALBs that have a particular property focus to prepare their own SAMP, for example Homes England and the Government Property Agency. recommendation a. Cabinet Office should perform a regular assessment on the quality of the SAMPs of organisations with major property portfolios and explain what further actions it is taking to improve the quality and coverage of departmental SAMPs. b. The Ministry of Defence should report to the Committee its plan for redeveloping its housing estate and include long–term plans in the departmental SAMP. The plan should also include details on proposed disposals, redevelopment and maintenance.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 29th Report - Condition of Government property (HC 641), 11 June 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-ninth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 11 August 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty ninth report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations in each area of the report, with target implementation dates ranging from autumn 2025 to the 2027-28 annual reports and accounts.
- On reporting backlogs in annual reports and accounts, the government agrees, but says this is "Subject to the Cabinet Office confirming the standard definition and calculation methods"; HM Treasury will "aim to make changes" to the FReM by November 2026.
- On risk analysis in Strategic Asset Management Plans, the government agrees (target: autumn 2026). The Cabinet Office intends to strengthen the position on strategic or major risks as an initial step, then to consult departments on how far explicit portfolio risk analysis "is practicable".
- The Office of Government Property will write to the Committee by April 2026 on support to departments, but states that central support "will be limited" unless departments support the centre to act on their behalf and pool resources.
- The Cabinet Office will write to the Committee no later than October 2025 on longer-term maintenance planning, and by July 2026 on improvement and assessment of departmental plans.