The National Audit Office (NAO) have released a report into public services, stating that the Government needs to consider their asset management
The report found that maintenance backlogs were spread across key public services, including schools, hospitals, and prisons.
The cost was determined to be at least £49bn, but due to lack of quality in the data, the cost is very likely to be higher, without being able to give a true estimate.
The report found poor conditions are affection delivery of public services
5,400 clinical service incidents occur within the NHS every year, due to failures in both property and infrastructure.
Much of the maintenance in public services required is becoming urgent, and costs for Ministry of Defence properties, schools, and NHS properties are amounting to £10bn each, making 88% of the total backlog. Prisons, job centres and assessment centres, courts, museums, and galleries, along with other infrastructure buildings, make up the remaining 12%, with £2bn or less each.
The NAO is using the Government building maintenance backlog as a warning to the Government that careful management of investment plans should be undertaken alongside ongoing maintenance costs to maintain satisfactory levels.
The full extent of the costs cannot be known, but the Office of Government Property (OGP) believe that the given £49bn estimate is extremely conservative due to the Government having incomplete and outdated data. This is also a concern for making funding decisions.
Public infrastructure building failures are affecting the delivery of public services, the productivity of the Government, and its ability to withstand shocks. This includes NHS failures, reduced civil service productivity, staff retention, and the ability to meet environmental goals.
The data from individual organisations show that maintenance costs have been on the rise for the last 10 years, with the backlog raising by £800m per year in 2023-2024.
The reasons for the Government building maintenance backlog are varied
The reasons for the mammoth backlog have been attributed to increases to the cost of work, the amount of work needed at the same time, lost income from the COVID-19 pandemic, and historic underinvestment.
The Cabinet Office has further estimated that deferring the backlog of maintenance could increase costs by more than 50% over a 2-4 year period, and the Government must improve its understanding of its estate.
The NAO has published a series of recommendations as a result of this report, including:
- Mandate to departments and arms-length bodies a standardised definition of the maintenance backlog, allowing a true figure to be calculated
- Include maintenance backlog data in the State of the Estate report from from 2026-27 and onwards
- Departments should produce long-term property plans, laying out capital needs and a plan to reduce the backlog
- Considering how the backlog could be tackled ahead of the next and subsequent spending review periods, for example, where feasible agreeing longer-term settlements for property investment and ring-fencing maintenance funding.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said: “Allowing large maintenance backlogs to build up at the buildings used to deliver essential public services is a false economy.
“Government needs better data on the condition of its operational assets and should use it to plan efficient maintenance programmes to deliver better services and value for money.”
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