More than 150 councils to join next phase of One Public Estate programme

The One Public Estate programme is due to be joined by 159 councils in its next phase, its backers the Cabinet Office and Local Government Association have said.

They have awarded £7.5m between 37 local partnerships made up of councils and public sector bodies to support collaborative work on making better use of land and property.

One Public Estate encourages public sector partners to share buildings, transform services, reduce running costs, and release surplus and under-used land and buildings for development.

Since its 2012 launch, One Public Estate has grown from supporting 12 councils to more than 100, which over five years are expected to deliver 36,000 jobs, land for 16,500 homes and £194m in capital receipts and lower running costs.

LGA chair Lord Porter said: “With half of councils across the country now taking part in the One Public Estate programme, local government is demonstrating real leadership in its communities, unlocking land to provide the homes and jobs that people need, helping services to work better together, and bringing in money while generating savings for the future.”

A further round of applications to join One Public Estate will open in April 2017.

Mark Smulian