If there is one key that can help unlock solutions to problems facing both our town centres and our local economies, it is recognition of the value of property assets that are owned and managed by local government.
Civic centres, town halls, leisure centres, theatres, galleries, cinemas, airports, sports stadiums and other council owned properties are worth some £250bn in England alone.
But we are not just talking about the financial value of these assets. We are talking about their strategic, place-shaping, social and environmental value and the knock-on multiplier effect this can have on local economies.
While local authorities collectively own two-thirds of all public sector property assets across the UK, current central government responses to the crisis facing the UK's high streets continue to place too great an emphasis on retail, at the expense of more rounded considerations.
To fill this gap in current analysis, the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) and Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) undertook a piece of work that explicitly links local government's ownership and management of assets with its economic development priorities.
Our report, The role and value of local authority assets in town centres, demonstrates the strategic, place, economic, social and environmental benefits local government property can bring to town centres and local economies.
It includes a ‘matrix' to help councils consider the wider value of their assets. Applying this matrix to a series of case study examples in the report shows the importance of council-owned town centre property in ensuring future local economic resilience.
So what can be done to maximise the benefits of these assets for economic development? As well as calling on national government to better recognise the role of local authority assets in town centre policies, there are a number of practical steps local authorities can take.
They need, firstly, to measure and evidence the economic benefits that the assets they own and manage bring to their high streets – in terms of attracting visitors, increasing footfall, acting as catalysts for events and partnerships, creating employment, marketing a place and levering in investment.
We recommend a comprehensive register with details of both the value and, importantly, the wider economic benefits of all public sector assets.
Town centres should be viewed as ‘systems' that require involvement from different organisations and sectors. Councils that own assets in addition to having democratically mandated stewardship, planning and operational roles are ideally placed to develop consortia involving the public sector, retailers, investors and third sector partners to help rejuvenate town centres and draw in resources.
Our work shows that the spending power of public service employees generates considerable revenue for local business.
Using local authority owned assets as ‘hubs' for providing services from a range of partners is a practical response to the need to cut costs, reduce duplication and enable services to be delivered in a joined up manner.
Our case studies also show the heritage, architectural and cultural significance of council assets for town centres and ways in which promoting this has helped attract visitors and investment.
Councils may be under pressure to divest themselves of their land and buildings as a response to the financial crisis they face. But once these assets are gone they are gone for good.
Making more effective use of assets may, instead, mean looking at them in more imaginative and strategic ways that will enhance local economic resilience for the longer term.
