Council buildings rate well in audit

May 15 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH and Kinross Council has emerged favourably from a Scotland-wide review of local authority property portfolios.

An Accounts Commission report has laid bare the awful state of many council buildings in Scotland, with 25% rated as being in poor or bad condition.

There is an estimated maintenance backlog of £1.4 billion as councils cut corners.

But Perth and Kinross Council has just 3% of its buildings in poor condition – a track record bettered only by Glasgow and Edinburgh. And rather than transfer them, Perth continues to have council houses within its own stock.

A spokesman stressed that Perth and Kinross Council had invested considerably in its assets – around £234m of capital investment has been made over the last 10 years in property, roads and street lighting, green space, information systems and fleet.

Property is the largest and most complex of the asset types.

He said: “We have created a specialist Property Asset Management Team, which has which has led to the council being recognised by bodies such as Audit Scotland, the Improvement Service and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors as one of Scotland’s leading local authorities for property asset management.

“We have a structured process for managing our assets that seeks to ensure the council is delivering the best services possible and is making the best use of public resources.”