One of the first activities undertaken following Carter Jonas’ appointment as Estates Framework provider to Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) was to prepare a Property Asset Management Plan (PAMP).

There had been no previous single document prepared to address the management and strategy for the BCC Estate. In accordance with the RICS Public Sector Property Asset Management Guidelines this started with the collection and verification of data and widespread stakeholder consultation. This gave the opportunity for us to understand the estate requirement and for us to discuss with them the planned move to a Corporate Landlord estate management model.

In addition to the above, the PAMP also introduced a set of Guiding Principles to ensure that from adoption of the PAMP forward, all property decisions would be taken in line. This led to the cessation of tactical property decision making by the services and absolute consistency in approach for the decision making process.

In addition to the PAMP, we produced a comprehensive suite of Estate Management processes. This helped un-skilled officers work through property processes, knowing what needed to be done, what required approvals or professional support, and where to get that from. This was invaluable in an organization that was undergoing an organisational redesign.

Stage two of the PAMP was undertaken as a major Service-led accommodation review, which in turn identified the potential for very significant capital receipts and revenue savings.