Asset management

Improving asset management is a key way in which authorities can achieve efficiencies, greater productivity and enhanced service delivery.

Accordingly Improvement East is committed to working with authorities to help them implement innovative asset management projects which unlock resources and utilise property assets more effectively. 

Improvement East's programme does not support business as usual projects - it only supports ambitious projects involving collaboration because this is where the big wins are.  If authorities across the region implemented comprehensive asset management improvement programmes it is estimated they could save approximately £450m from property  - which represents savings of between 10% and 20% - and in some places up to 25% savings could be made.

Currently Improvement East is supporting through pump priming and expert help ground breaking projects in:

• Cambridgeshire (Making Assets Count) where Improvement East is helping source new financial and legal models for a new asset management vehicle for Cambridgeshire
• Norfolk (Collaborative Asset Management) where support will facilitate the development of a County wide public sector asset strategy and plan, and
• Essex (the "East 17" programme) which comprises a  number of projects including;

• the extension of a County wide procured Total Property and Facilities Management contract to additional authorities to provide savings and benefits of scale, 
• a new public service civic hub in Tendring to provide "one front door" for customers,
• the development of a County wide asset mapping and data management system to support asset rationalisation, co-location and performance improvement, and
• the development of a new energy services company to provide opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and make savings through exploiting new more sustainable technologies.     

Improvement East is keen to develop this programme and  is always keen to hear from colleagues with new ideas as it may be able to help in many different ways and initial advice is free- for example by advising on governance, on staffing, on procurement as well as potentially through targeted funding.

So if you are contemplating an asset management improvement project which you think has the potential to make a real difference to the way public sector assets are used and would like to find out how Improvement East could help please contact the Programme Manager, Andrew Rowson, at andrew.rowson@improvementeast.gov.uk or 07887 633451 for an informal discussion in the first instance.