The Conservatives should “urgently” tackle the inefficient use of central government property if they win at the next general election, a senior Tory advisor has said.

A Tory government should aim to vacate 10% of government office space within one year, according to Martin Read, the author of the Operational Efficiency Programme and a member of the Conservatives’ Public Sector Productivity Panel.

As part of a statement released yesterday by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne (pictured), Read said central government used 30% more office space per head than dictated by best practice.

He said: “This inefficiency needs to be addressed much more urgently. Property assets should be managed separately and user departments charged for the space they use. This would focus minds on the efficient use of resources.

“We should require 10% of office space to be vacated within a year, consolidating staff into fewer buildings, reducing running costs and freeing buildings for sale.”

Read was asked to advise the Conservatives on how they could quickly make back office efficiency savings to cut the public deficit.

Alongside former head of the Office of Government Commerce Sir Peter Gershon, who also sits on the Conservative panel, Read estimated that £12bn  could be saved from  government department budgets in 2010.

The Conservatives claim these back office cuts would be “over and above” savings already identified by the government.

• Cameron gets green light for £6bn savings
• Private sector trio appointed key property advisers to coalition
• Property to feature in Tories’ £6bn savings plan
• Tories bid to outdo Labour property savings
• McCready fleshes out £70bn property efficiencies