Collaboration in property and facilities management : The experience of the Grampian Public Sector Property Group

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the problems that different public sector bodies' face in joint planning to develop and share facilities and property services and how they have overcome some of them. It examines those difficulties that remain outstanding as the public sector strives to meet changing demands on its services and public expectations within limited resources. It is designed to help facilities managers facing similar problems and to stimulate researchers to investigate some of the outstanding issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the history of the North East of Scotland Public Sector Property Group (NESPSPG) since its inception in 2001 and examines its successes and its outstanding problems as a case study for the wider “Efficient Government” agenda. Findings – The NESPSPG has been innovative and successful in addressing a number of difficult facilities management (FM) problems. There are some problems that are less tractable and require assistance and reform outside the control of the constituent members of the group if more progress is to continue and the “Efficient Government” agenda may provide some of the solutions. Research limitations/implications – The paper presents recent historic material describing the NESPSPG projects to help in identifying issues that need consideration by the FM profession. It sustains the debate between FM practitioners, central and local government policy‐makers and academic researchers on the efficient collaborative use of public sector assets in Scotland's public sector. Originality/value – The paper is a viewpoint paper and an exposition of a practical case study illustrating the problems faced by public sector facilities managers in a particular locality and considers how this sheds light on wider FM issues of collaborative working.