Celebrating Public Sector Work

“For me, our work carried out jointly with the public sector is some of the most innovative, varied and rewarding,” says Alexandra Houghton, Partner in Carter Jonas’ London office. 

Alexandra, as Head of Public Sector, works closely with teams from across the firm, including: Johnny Clayton, Glen Richardson in the Masterplanning team; and Jon Pinkerton and Caroline Searle in the Urban Regeneration team. 

Public Sector and Urban Regeneration

There is no doubt that local authorities suffer from unwarranted bad press, with recent scandals including mismanaged property deals and investments, extortionate debts, Government bailouts and self-declared bankruptcy. 

But the column inches attracted by these rare events paints an unfairly negative picture of the work of the public sector, much of which impacts positively on large numbers of communities around the country, and in challenging circumstances. 

As just a few examples: Cambridge City Council is developing entire schemes of highly sustainable homes along the lines of the Passivhaus; Swansea City Council is reimagining its city centre to address post-pandemic change; Folkestone and Hythe District Council is creating a much-needed garden village which will accommodate up to 10,000 homes – addressing housing need where the private sector is failing to do so. In each case, these Councils are doing so with the support of Carter Jonas.

“Local authorities have a significant bearing on urban regeneration through a complex combination of policy setting, land ownership and assembly and leveraging funding,” explains Glen. “But they do this against a challenging backdrop. 

Unique among property consultancies, Carter Jonas’ strong public sector focus is a historic one. As Glen says, “Looking back over the last couple of decades, there are examples throughout the country of town and city centres which have been positively impacted by Carter Jonas. Sudbury, Nuneaton, Swansea, Great Yarmouth and towns in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire showcase the long-term benefits of our teams’ work; while other more recent projects include HS2, and masterplans for Warwickshire, Abingdon and East Barnwell in Cambridge.”

“Our work benefits significantly from the broad, multidisciplinary offer,” says Alexandra. “Carter Jonas offers the complete picture: architecture and masterplanning, asset management, building surveying, business case development, estate strategies, investment advice, land assembly and compulsory purchase, project management and cost consultancy, planning consultancy and stakeholder engagement and urban change.”

These wide-ranging skills sets are coupled with specific expertise in relation to property market sectors: mixed-use, logistics, industrial, healthcare, later living, commercial, higher education, science and technology, data centres, retail and leisure, day nurseries, hotels and student accommodation. The benefits to the public sector of this broad mix are considerable. 

Local Authorities have specialist needs

Carter Jonas can also respond to the need for specialists, says Glen: “Due to structural change, local authorities lack the specialists they once had, especially in design and masterplanning. In addition to those skills mentioned earlier, we can supply expertise in niche areas including mapping and geospatial, valuation, and infrastructure. Managing estates well with less people requires good quality data.”

Importantly, as Alexandra explains, Carter Jonas has the considerable benefit of bringing experience from other areas, councils and projects. “Local authorities will always know their own area and surrounding areas very well, but can lack the national overview that comes with having a network of offices throughout the country. They will often ask how another council addressed a particular issue and we can usually draw on our own experiences, albeit from the other end of the country.”

This is complemented by a broad commercial understanding, achieved through wider knowledge and experience. Glen explains, “We sometimes fulfil the role of a ‘buffer’ or ‘bridge’ between the public sector and their ambitions, and the commercial sector and the reality. Our commercial teams can provide financial data at speed and in multiple scenarios. Working with Vale of the White Horse Council on a regeneration framework for Abingdon, we were able to calculate the financial returns on a selection of redevelopment scenarios based on floor areas and rental yields, costs and sales values, based on specific time frames and throughout the project. This allows decisions to be made very quickly and introduces considerable efficiencies and in turn benefits to our clients.”

While local authority officers are deeply embedded in such projects, Carter Jonas can offer the benefit of existing at ‘arm’s length’. “Sometimes,” says Glen, “Local authorities will require arm’s length evaluation, someone to interview the leader, or to justify the decision-making. Our detached role often makes it easier for us to do so than it would a local authority officer. 

Innovation at the heart of long-term public contracts

Furthermore, Carter Jonas’ involvement tends to be through long term contracts, with some lasting for as long as 30 years: in some areas Carter Jonas’ involvement has outlasted every councillor and officer. 

Innovation is an area in which Carter Jonas excels, and a benefit much appreciated by public sector clients. One example is the quantifiable GIS mapping system which Carter Jonas has developed. Alexandra explains, “We’re carrying out the disposal strategy for a national Infrastructure provider which requires a methodology and an order of disposal.  Our mapping technology enables us to look at live data and identify current market values in the vicinity. In line with changing values, we can determine the most financially effective order of disposal.” A similarly innovative approach is taken to community engagement and consultation, both via on-line surveys and in person workshops, which has enabled local authorities to reach consultees quickly and efficiently, in doing so speeding up the production of framework and other masterplanning documents. 

Finally, despite the financial pressures on local authorities, a common problem may sometimes be using funding within its prescribed time frame. As Glen explains, “Funding packages, such as One Public Estate brownfield funding which provided around £100,000 for the East Barnwell regeneration framework, is time-limited. When the bid is won, it must be used with expediency and those local authorities with considerable resource or skills gaps may struggle to do so. This is where Carter Jonas’ ability to provide both skills and capacity becomes imperative.”

“There is some exceptional work going on in the public sector,” concludes Alexandra. “It vastly outweighs the negativity that admittedly makes for entertaining reading in Private Eye. The real success story here is the nature of the partnerships: the nuanced, varied and robust structures which we help put in place, and the way in which this helps us deliver schemes which are unique to their location and meet the many challenges of the present and future.”