In a recent editorial comment, one national newspaper seemed to mock a Treasury’s plans to rationalise the office it space it occupies by requiring staff to work at smaller desks.

For those familiar with the Treasury building, the opportunity to increase efficiency by ensuring that the floor space is properly utilised seems sensible.

This is especially true if it enables the government to save money by not renewing a costly lease elsewhere in central London.

The logic, which we support, is that these sorts of savings are achievable right across the government estate, and it is only right that the Treasury is setting an example with its own accommodation.

Whilst it is perfectly possible for highly utilised offices to be productive workplaces, the challenge for the government will be in ensuring that greater efficiencies in the estate don’t lead to much greater inefficiencies in the work being done inside it.

Property costs, while large in themselves, represent only a modest proportion of the overall employment overhead, and decision-makers must not lose sight of the fact that the big numbers are those associated with the staff within these buildings and the work they do.

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James Grierson is head of public sector at DTZ

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