Property controls: guidance for public bodies

7. What happens once I have submitted the case to the Property Controls Team?

Once a case is submitted a PCD Chartered Estates Surveyor will be nominated to lead the review. The Surveyor will acknowledge receipt (this will be copied to sponsor team) and, where cases are straightforward, not novel or contentious and the approach has been previously agreed with the team, a response will usually be received within three weeks.

The Surveyor will begin by reviewing the case for eligibility and completeness. Where a case or the body is not in scope of Property Controls, the SG property team will inform the sponsor team and / or public body and no further action relating to Property Controls is required. The sponsor team will be able to advise the public body on any alternative approvals routes which need to be followed. Advice from PCD is still available whether Property Controls applies or not.

Where the information on the template is incomplete the case will be returned to the sponsor team and/or the public body and will not be progressed until the template has been completed. In these instances, the sponsor team (as applicable) should re-submit the case to Property Controls as if it is a new case. Early engagement with the team on proposals will help mitigate against any delays such as this.

Subject to the initial eligibility and completeness review, the Surveyor will then conduct a review of the template content to assess the strategic fit, commercial, financial and management cases in relation to value for money, SSE / PSR principles and the SPFM.

In certain instances, the Surveyor reviewing the case may need to seek further clarification from the public body. In these cases, the Surveyor will directly contact the body copying in the sponsor team (where applicable).

The public body should respond to the queries from the Surveyor within five working days of receipt of a query where possible. Failure to meet this timeline may result in delays to the review of the case. Time spent gathering further information may delay the target of concluding the case in three weeks.

Once any clarifications have been responded to, the Surveyor will complete their review and submit to the SG’s Chief Surveyor for final quality assurance review, which will result in one of the following:

1. Recommendation to Endorse

2. Recommendation to Endorse (with Conditions)

3. Recommendation to Not Endorse

Where a Recommendation to Endorse is given, the sponsor team (where applicable) or Executive Agency will then be free to arrange the appropriate Ministerial approval route for the transaction, including any AO template or other financial approvals and will include the Property Controls assessment outcome and any narrative provided in their advice to Ministers.

Where a Recommendation to “Endorse (with Conditions)” is given, the public body and their sponsor team should ensure that any conditions are met, and the sponsor team should inform the PCD of this. In some instances, the conditions may relate to future events (e.g. leases on buildings with lower Energy performance Certificate (EPC) ratings being extended for a shorter time period than requested).

Where a Recommendation to “Not Endorse” is given, public bodies should discuss this with their sponsor team and PCD to determine the best course of action.

In order to proceed, approval is required from both the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy and the relevant portfolio Minister. A simultaneous submission to them should be copied to the Minister for Public Finance.

In all cases a draft copy of the submission should be sent to PCD for clearance before it is sent to Ministers. The submission must include the Property Controls assessment outcome and any more detailed narrative from Property Controls or PCD.

At least 6 months before the transaction, the Sponsor Team where applicable) provides support and guidance to the body, and formally submits to PCT for Property Controls Review. If there is no Sponsor Team the body submits the template to PCT for Property Controls Review themselves.

PCT will review the case and allocate a surveyor who will review the documents. If insufficient the Surveyor will inform the Sponsor Team and Body for the return reason. If it is sufficient, the Surveyor will review the Business Case asking clarifications as required. Once satisfied, the Surveyor or Chief Surveyor makes a recommendation to endorse, endorsement with conditions or not approve. The recommendation is passed on to Sponsor Team for further action as appropriate or directly to the Body if there is no Sponsor Team.

As noted previously, where possible, PCD should be contacted at least 2 years before all lease events. This is to ensure that sufficient time is available to properly assess and deliver all available options and that no course of action is ruled out solely because of a lack of time. In more complex cases the minimum time (6 months) allowed for the Property Control review process may need to be increased, so we would recommend that PCD is contacted at the earliest opportunity.