Spending cuts will mean big changes to the way services are delivered across the public sector. For asset managers this is an exciting opportunity, as we can be at the forefront of that change.

Those who practice surveying in local government know all about asset management and the mandatory “asset plans” of the early 2000s. Over the last 15 years, I and others have practised how to put the services that occupy public sector local government property through the asset-planning machine.

This is all done with a view to “sweating” the asset, selling surplus “silver” or, more generally, plotting a direction three to five years ahead. The property has to follow this and be measured against these targets. In so doing, we have created a role for the chartered surveyor to assert the time-honoured approach of good stewardship, ethical professional practice and client-side property leadership.

We have many notable case studies that show the rest of political and managerial leadership the place that property has alongside human resources, IT and finance as a key enabler of the next wave of change in the public sector.

To illustrate what we can do, I have highlighted an important office change project that I championed in Hertfordshire. The success of the council’s industry and efforts were recognised with the award of beacon status for asset management by the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2005.

I had to persuade a sceptical leadership team at the county council to adopt new ways of working for more than 5,000 members of staff and spend more than £35m, so they could achieve the office rationalisation programme over four years.

I was lucky to have an equivalent value in the stock released to balance the capital cost. Nevertheless the benefits – if taken – and value for money far outstripped the revenue cost consequences of the project.

The changes are now complete and have resulted in significant opportunities for changing the way services are provided. Collaboration with other public bodies was the norm, and property staff became seen as a team that led and understood.

This illustrates that asset management, more than other central public services, needs to take on the leadership role for championing new forms of outcomes for our public services.

We have the experience of property, the data on its performance, the link to the wider marketplace, and the management skills to generate new ideas. The RICS is working to help chartered surveyors seize future opportunities. The institution’s public sector group, of which I am a member, is focused on making sure that access to the right skills is in place for the asset management challenges ahead.

This positions the chartered surveyor as change agent, intelligent client, and champion for public sector property: a key role for our leadership in a rapidly changing financial climate. The expectations of surveyors have never been more clearly defined.

Tony Comer is founder of Tony Comer Associates, past-president of the Association of Chief Corporate Property Officers, and a member of the RICS Public Sector Group

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