Kate Wansbrough-Jones, associate in construction and engineering at law firm Taylor Wessing, says she thinks the Comprehensive Spending Review could be good for public procurement:

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How will the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review affect public procurement?
The obvious answer is that there will be less work to pitch for and competition …

Stephen Hollowood, executive director and head of public sector at GVA Grimley, looks at which parts of the UK will be hit hardest by next Wednesday’s comprehensive spending review:
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The much-anticipated comprehensive spending review will announce funding cuts across all parts of the public sector, although more so for some …

Gerry Hughes, executive director and head of consultancy & delivery at GVA Grimley, gives his view on the limitations of local authority asset sales and why sale-and-leaseback deals could be the answer for the public sector:
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The Total Place initiative put forward by the previous Labour government is emerging as …

Congratulations are in order for Sir Bob Kerslake after he landed himself a very senior role in Whitehall.
The position of permanent secretary is a prestigious one. While his profile will be more subdued than was required of him at the Homes and Communities Agency, his influence should be significant.
His announcement …

Much debate is raging about social housing in the UK, sparked by announcements of major housing benefit reforms.

Last week, for example, prime minister David Cameron announced plans to replace lifelong council house tenancies with five or ten-year contracts. This marks the most radical reform to social housing since the …

Spending cuts will mean big changes to the way services are delivered across the public sector. For asset managers this is an exciting opportunity, as we can be at the forefront of that change.
Those who practice surveying in local government know all about asset management and the mandatory “asset plans” …

As a general rule of thumb, we can accept most new things in life, providing we give it 10 years. It is just more than a decade since London started electing mayors again, and we haven’t rejected the idea so far
Now the talk is about giving them more powers. London …

Alan Soldat, planning director at Barton Wilmore, says there are lessons the coalition government should learn from Regional Spatial Strategies before they are consigned to the scrapheap

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As expected, the Government has announced that regional spatial strategies (RSSs) are to go. A huge amount of work went into the production of …

Paul Sutcliffe, sustainability manager at DTZ, explains the barriers to achieving the coalition’s ambitious green targets through public property. He says a fundamental shift in thinking across the public sector is needed.
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With the new coalition government determined to be the “greenest ever”, prime minister David Cameron has announced that central …

Anthony Coumidis, sustainability and energy director at property and construction consultancy McBains Cooper says local authorities should interpret their “10% renewables” planning rules differently to drive down the cost of green energy:
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Current planning permission regulations say new builds must generate at least 10% of their energy needs from on-site renewable …