Recommendation 5

Many departments and arm’s length bodies do not have the skills and capabilities to manage their property portfolio effectively. There is a shortage of skilled property professionals across departments. Departments are finding it difficult to recruit and retain property professionals. The lack of capacity and capability in departments impacts their ability to maintain properties effectively, including both carrying out the work required and managing contractors. Government has recently made progress in recruiting and training staff, for example by initiating 302 new property apprenticeships and 61 new graduates recruited for property roles by September 2024. We understand that the government property function has the lowest proportion of women working in it of any of the government functions; an issue acknowledged by the Cabinet Office and which it says it is trying to address. We are also concerned that it may be very challenging to maintain existing property professional staff numbers across government, and certainly to recruit more, in the context of trying to reduce civil service expenditure. The Cabinet Office has itself announced recently that it intends to reduce its staff numbers by nearly a third. recommendation As part of its of strategic workforce planning review, the Cabinet Office should set out the reasons for difficulties recruiting and retaining property professionals and its plans to improve skills and diversity of property professionals across government.