Property Matters newsletter | August 2024

In this edition of the Government Property Group newsletter – We provide you with an update on the Wellington consolidation project, discuss the latest updates for the Government Property Portal, share our new assurance web content and more.

Wellington consolidation project update

The government accommodation scene in Wellington is ever changing. We’re already seeing strong demand from agencies actively seeking our assistance to optimise the use of their space, and in some cases, reduce their footprint. One of our key initiatives is to look at how the public service makes better use of office spaces. 

To find efficiencies and generate savings through a portfolio approach to our footprint, we are establishing a project team to manage the Wellington Consolidation Project (WCP). The WCP intends to drive savings and release unnecessary property by consolidating our footprint into a reduced number of key sites within the CBD.

Currently mandated government agencies occupy around 70 sites in the Wellington CBD, ranging from entire buildings to single floors. This footprint has expanded over time, driven by agency changes, staffing levels, government priorities and seismic assessments.

We continue our work with agencies to explore relocation and colocation opportunities, including the Bowen House redevelopment and other existing CBD government-leased locations.

Agencies with pending lease-negotiations (Wellington only) either in process or about to start, should already be actively engaging with their Senior Property Portfolio Specialist (SPPS) on these matters.

For more information on the WCP, or if you have any questions about your current lease situation, contact your SPPS or email us.

Surplus office furniture

It’s not quite the time for a spring clean yet, but have you got spare desks, monitors, chairs, tambours or other office furniture floating around?

There are a range of options available when determining what to do with your excess furniture. You could repurpose, sell or donate. if you are considering any of these options, make sure you're acting consistently with your agency’s asset disposal policies and any relevant legislation and guidance.

Workplace and classroom furniture contract
Did you know that our workplace and classroom furniture contract includes furniture repurposing services? Selected suppliers can repurpose and re-use old furniture instead of sending it to landfill. This reduces waste by increasing the useful life of furniture.

If you’re a participating agency, check out the contract to see if this option works for you.

Workplace and classroom furniture suppliers

Donate to charity  
Another sustainable option is donating unused furniture to charity for others to use. 

If you’re interested in this option, email the Furniture team. 

Whether your agency has surplus furniture or if you're interested in making savings by re-using existing furniture, get in touch with your SPPS or email us on Furniture@gpg.govt.nz.

Government Property Portal - upcoming modules

We continue to enhance functionality in the Government Property Portal (GPP), our integrated workplace management system, to make sure agencies can manage their property portfolios more effectively.

There’s a lot of activity going on with the GPP over the coming weeks and users will see several changes, including:

• A new dashboard that will allow an agency to request space from other agencies in real-time.
• A new combined report to display all the risk assessments associated with a building (Seismic, NABERSNZ, Asbestos and BWOF's) and the ability for agencies to load their own assessment directly.
• We continue work on connecting GPP to your Outlook inbox. This will deliver alerts direct to your inbox.
• As more agencies begin to look at their asset portfolios, GPP continues to offer an enterprise solution for capturing and managing assets in real-time.

If you have questions or need more information on the GPP, email us. 

Property assurance

Our Assurance team is here to help agencies make better property decisions by providing independent and objective assurance. Property assurance helps agencies to improve the effectiveness of government property operations and projects.

If you want to find out more, we’ve updated our website with information about the assurance function. You’ll find an overview of our services, and a range of tools and resources on offer to support your agency. In addition, the team can support agencies with specialised advisory services and system wide insights.   

Property assurance

If you’d like to find out more or need assurance advice, email the GPG Assurance team.

Property consultancy services - new contract

We are on track to launch the new PCS contract on 20 September 2024. The contract scope is intended for office accommodation related property matters but may be useful in some other operational property settings, particularly where these operational services are related to office accommodation.

The PCS contract includes seven sub-categories covering a variety of service areas. The table below compares the current agreement with what’s in scope of the new agreement. 

If you have any questions about the upcoming contract, email us.

Pre-launch agency briefing session

Date: Thursday 5 September
Time: 2pm – 3pm

We’re hosting a pre-launch agency webinar to talk through the new PCS contract. We’ll give you an overview of the new PCS solution and what you need to do to join. We’ll also let you know who the new providers on the panel are and how you can transition to the new contract once it goes live.

Register here for the webinar

Save the date: upcoming Knowledge Hour

Property Knowledge Hour – property cost models

Date: Tuesday 17 September  
Time: 11am – 12pm

Join us to learn about the Government Property Group’s cost model, and what we’re doing to quantify operating expenditure costs (OPEX) to landlords.

Register here 

If you'd like to know more, please contact us.