Full Report - National Audit Office

part oneThe Department now reportsbiennially to the Committee of PublicAccounts on estate management1.12 The Department now reports biennially tothe Committee of Public Accounts on progress withall important estate activity including the majorprojects and estates rationalisation. This Report to theCommittee replaces previous annual reports on thetop 20 estate projects.1.13 The previous Report, the Defence New WorksStatement, had been provided since 1984, when itreplaced an earlier statement. The Statement’s usefulnesshad declined since it only reported on capital projectsprocured traditionally and, therefore, did not includeprivate finance initiative projects or those for facilitiessuch as the water and waste water management project,Aquatrine. Changes to methods of procurement andmanagement of the estate have resulted in larger andlonger-term contracts. In 2003 the Department, afterdiscussion with the National Audit Office, approachedthe Committee of Public Accounts with a proposednew format for the Report and reduced frequency.The Committee, in February 2004, approved both theproposed new Report and a biennial submission.1.14 The new Report is an improvement to the previousone in that, in addition to the cost and timescales ofall major construction and facilities projects, it reportson the Department’s progress in rationalising its estate.Specifically, it encompasses performance on the followingestate activity:major estate procurement projects, either in the UKor overseas, for expenditure in excess of £50 million;maintenance and upgrade of the estate to thedesired standard by the introduction of RegionalPrime Contracts;upgrading of accommodation for servicepersonnel, both service families and singleliving accommodation;Public Private Partnerships/Private Finance Initiativesfor contracts in excess of £100 million;major Infrastructure projects (expenditure in excessof £50 million); andrationalisation of the defence estate.The Report provides a more accountable and transparentoverview of estate management in the Department.The Department’s strategy is supported by aprogramme of rationalisation and restructuredmanagement of the estate1.15 Drawing on the vision for the defence estate, todeliver an estate “of the right size”, the Department hasembarked on a major programme of estate rationalisation.To deliver an estate “of the right quality”, the Departmenthas introduced a new structure for managing the estatetogether with new methods of procurement. These two keyelements of the strategy are considered further, in turn, inthe following sections of this report.MINISTRY OF DEFENCE: MANAGING THE DEFENCE ESTATE9