Ownership of public assets should be transferred to community groups, think tank ResPublica has said
In a new reported, called To Buy, To Bid, To Build: Community Rights for an Asset Owning Democracy, it said that letting communities buy assets such as libraries, swimming pools and village halls would improve public …

This week, 1,300 professionals in the public and private sector gathered to talk about sweating publicly owned assets and financing regeneration.
They were attending the inaugural Public Property Summit in London on 1 and 2 November.
To see photos from the event and get a flavour of the atmosphere, take a look …

There are more absentees in the public sector than the private sector and stress is the most common cause of absence, a report has found.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s Absence Survey, which is published today, shows 35% of employers across all sectors have reported that stress-related absence has …

Ian Ellis, exec chairman of property outsourcing giant Telereal Trillium, explains how the Comprehensive Spending Review will affect his company, including an anticipate 20% drop in profits from the public sector side of its business.
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There is no way you can have an order book shrunk and not have a drop …

New property vehicles to own and manage the government office estate should charge departments “market rent”, prime minister David Cameron has said.
In a letter to Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander and Cabinet secretary Francis Maude, seen by PublicPropertyUK.com, Cameron calls for departments to be “incentivised” to use their estates efficiently. …

Morale among public sector workers has hit an all-time low ahead of Wednesday’s Comprehensive Spending Review, according to a survey by recruitment consultancy Badenoch & Clark
The survey of 1,000 public sector workers found that 25% are fearful of losing their jobs, while one in five have no idea what cuts …

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 …

The government will extend its ban on new government leases until 2015 to try to save more than £250m in rent and running costs.
The Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group is expected to announce the National Property Controls freeze in the comprehensive spending review on 20 October.
The ban was introduced …

The Liberal Democrats have agreed to fight for proportional representation in local government, and for 75% of councils’ spending to be raised locally.
At the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool today, the party carried a motion on localism that said it “deplored” the shift of power from local communities towards central …

One fifth of local authorities have yet to to sign up to new energy efficiency scheme the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency, according to new research.
Councils have until 30 September to sign up for the CRC, which aims to increase the cost of energy by forcing companies and public sector …