Scottish Civil Estate: efficiency and sustainability report 2020 to 2021

2. Executive Summary

Scottish Ministers are required to lay before the Scottish Parliament this eleventh annual report assessing progress in improving the efficiency and sustainability of the Scottish Civil estate.

Key performance indicators are gathered to reflect the size, use and energy efficiency of the offices which the core Scottish Government and its diverse executive agencies occupy, and where they control the building's plant and environment.

The estate being assessed is not static and comparisons year to year are difficult due to the natural evolution of staff numbers, working practices and the number of bodies comprising the Scottish Government's executive agencies.

The Central Estate Strategy introduced by Scottish Government in April 2019 built on work in preceding years to reduce the total estate size by 20,564 m 2 with 9 fewer buildings, lower running costs and a transition by many organisations to 'smarter working' practices. The resulting co- locations, and essential estate investment to improve working conditions for staff, increased the total estate cost per full-time equivalent employee (FTE) for the preceding two years whilst optimising the use of existing space and supporting modern technology. This enabled a reduction in the area per workstation and area per FTE across the civil estate.

Improvements in energy efficiency have been delivered across the civil estate with a range of measures implemented such as LED lighting and installation of photo-voltaic solar panels at the larger buildings. These improvements, among others, show a continuing trend of less energy being consumed per FTE in offices.

This welcome trajectory is one of improving efficiency and sustainability across the civil estate as a whole. Scottish Government is continuing to deliver improvements across the central civil estate using accommodation and property changes together with enabling technologies to implement better ways of working and delivering services. Developments to meet Scottish Ministers' climate targets and evolving work practices across society will continue to provide opportunities for further improvements.