Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land, published March 2017, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that guidance; and what assessment he has made of the impact of that guidance on (a) the development of sites and (b) NHS services.

A Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land, published March 2017, was withdrawn in June 2021. By then it was assessed as inadequate: it had out-of-date references and no longer reflected current government policy.

Subsequent government reports assessed delivery on the two primary targets for housing land and capital receipts. These showed the release of government-owned sites for redevelopment continued to make progress, and the receipts target was fully met. Land releases included NHS sites, for which an assessment of impact would routinely be made prior to release.

There are no plans at present to assess the adequacy of the 2017 guidance. Revised guidance will take account of property market and construction sector situations as well as social value and the three missions of the Government Property Strategy 2022-2030, including a ‘smaller, better, greener’ government estate.