Single Scottish Estate (SSE) Programme: reflections and progress report
This reflections report showcases what the Single Scottish Estate has achieved in its first two years of delivery, highlighting successes of the programme.
4. Benefits and Savings
We are pleased to repor t that an overall total of over £41 million Single Scottish Estate benefits have been secured, including:
- Dundee project - Five leased office buildings into two, delivering cost savings of circa £6.3 million to the public purse over the initial 5-year lease period, reduced the public sector civil estate occupied by the participating bodies in Dundee by 35%.
- Silvan House (Edinburgh) - cost savings of circa £11.5 million to public purse compared to initial 5-year lease period of the proposed lease renewal without impacting on services provided, resultant co-locations also removed 89,000 sq. ft. of leased Edinburgh office space.
- Ayr – agreed for surplus office space in the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) office, Kilwinning, to be used by core Scottish Government staff, which will save around £500,000 p.a. and make more efficient use of existing space paid for by Ministers.
- Glasgow Bothwell Street - supported Transport Scotland in the acquisition of new, net zero carbon headquarters office space in Glasgow. It resulted in more space than was eventually needed, with negative budgetary implications. Interventions delivered anticipated overall cost savings/avoidance of c £15 million to the public purse over a 10-year period and supported 3 public bodies into new net zero facilities, delivering c 28,500 sq. ft. reduction in Glasgow public sector office estate.
- Glasgow – over £11 million has been saved to the end of this spending review period from the interim Glasgow Office strategy work, with further efficiencies to come from Phase 2 of the current GOP. This rationalisation project is currently in progress with in-scope bodies including Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Disclosure Scotland, Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, Care Inspectorate, NatureScot and Bord na Gaidhlig.
Working together to deliver these solutions we have been grateful for the support and collaborative input of a number of public bodies where many other annual savings have been secured. This includes from commercial property negotiations to consolidate and co-locate services, rationalise liabilities for lease ends combined with expert financial oversight. One of the principles of SSE is working collectively to maximise best value overall; this aligns closely with the public service reform agenda. Case studies provide more information on some of these projects.