Recommendation 9

Well–maintained government properties are more cost–effective than poorly maintained buildings. They contribute to a better experience for the public and higher levels of wellbeing and productivity for staff. Poor property maintenance can result in water leaks, collapsing ceilings, fire alarm faults and other building failures.14 These risks have already materialised across government property and resulted, for instance, in the closure of prison cells, law courts and museums. On average, in the period 2019–20 to 2023–24, approximately 5,400 clinical service incidents occurred in the NHS every year due to property and infrastructure failures.15 We recently reported on the prison estate backlog which has doubled to £1.8 billion in the last four years and its Spending Review allocation of £220 million in 2024–25 which is not sufficient to reverse this trend.16