Public sector partners awarded £345,000 to help transform service delivery

Date published: 14th February 2019

The Norfolk One Public Estate Partnership has been allocated a further £345,000 to improve public service delivery and to help realise the maximum potential of land and buildings owned by public sector organisations across the county.

Norfolk’s One Public Estate partnership, which brings together Norfolk County Council, district councils, several NHS bodies and the Police, has been allocated the money by the Cabinet Office Government Property Unit and the Local Government Association (LGA).

The One Public Estate programme aims to maximise the use of buildings and land owned by the public sector, making assets work as hard as possible for taxpayers. This is achieved by the partners developing joint projects to share buildings, transform services, reduce running costs, and release surplus and under-used land for development.

This can create new opportunities for services to be delivered in a more seamless way, for example by bringing teams from different organisations into one shared building. Examples include Dereham Hospital (Breckland Council); multi-site regeneration proposals in Hunstanton (Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk) involving the reconfiguration of education, library, transport and Blue Light services; masterplanning processes at the Norwich Community Hospital (Norwich City Council), Kelling Hospital (North Norfolk) and Shrublands (Gorleston – Great Yarmouth Borough Council) sites.

Land or buildings no longer needed can potentially be sold, which will eliminate unnecessary running costs and free up space for new homes and employment opportunities within the county.

Chair of Norfolk’s One Public Estate Board and Head of Paid Service at North Norfolk District Council, Steve Blatch, said: “This latest round of funding will allow a number of projects to be taken forward around the county including redevelopment of the former Mile Cross depot site in Norwich to provide new housing, health care and leisure facilities and feasibility studies for public service delivery hubs in Diss and North Norfolk.

Mr Blatch added: “These joint projects, which explore co-location of services, will deliver better service outcomes for local communities whilst securing new housing and jobs through the redevelopment of surplus property.

The Norfolk partnership’s allocation is part of a £15 million investment, awarded to partnerships across England. The money will support further joint working across central and local government.