The cost of the government’s building maintenance backlog is estimated to be at least £49bn, according to figures from the National Audit Office (NAO).
The NAO warned that due to poor government data the true cost of the backlog of maintenance projects across key public services including school, hospitals and prisons, is likely to be higher.
The public spending watchdog said the government will need to consider the best way to manage its assets alongside its long-term investment plans, in addition to the cost of ongoing maintenance, to bring the condition of some of its properties up to a satisfactory level.
Ministry of Defence properties, schools and NHS properties have a building maintenance backlog of more than £10bn each and account for 88% of the total backlog. Sites including prisons, job and assessment centres, courts, museums and galleries have backlogs of less than £2bn each.
The NAO is recommending that government implements a series of measures to address the backlogs. These include: mandating to departments and arms-length bodies a standardised definition of the maintenance backlog, so the true figure across government can be calculated; departments producing long-term property plans, setting out capital needs and a plan to reduce their backlog; and considering ahead of the next and subsequent spending review periods, how the backlog could be tackled, by 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.”
