Councils own or use a vast portfolio of property and land. They need these facilities to provide services - schools, libraries, social care, day centres, parks and housing.

But they are also duty bound to use these spaces efficiently –without wasting money unnecessarily – which is essential because councils incur high costs just through occupying buildings.

In fact, in 2012/13, English councils spent an estimated £5.6bn – about 4% of all revenue spending in that year - on premises-related expenditure, according to the Audit Commission's "Managing council property assets" briefing paper, June 2014.

So how can councils get the best return from their assets?