Britain is a constitutional monarchy. That means it is a country governed by a king or a queen who accepts the advice of a parliament. It is also a parliamentary democracy. That is, it is a country whose government is controlled by a parliament which has been elected by the people.
The highest positions in the government are filled by the members of the directly elected parliament. In Britain, as in many European countries, the official head of state, whether a monarch or a president has little power.
The Parliament
The British Parliament is divided into two “houses”, and its members belong to one or other of them, although only members of the Commons are normally known as MPs (Member of Parliament). The Commons is by far the more important of the two houses.
The House of Lords consists of over 1000 non-elected members. Members can be divided into the Lords Spiritual, higher bishops of the Church of England, and the Lords Temporal. The latter can be divided into Lords who have inherited their titles, Lords who have been given their titles for their lifetime and Law lords.
The House of Commons carries out the bulk of parliamentary work. The 650 Members Of Parliament (MPs), who sit in the Commons, are elected representatives of the people in the United Kingdom (523 for England, 38 for Wales, 72 for Scotland and 17 for Northern Ireland).
Each MP represents one of the 650 constituencies into which the UK is divided. Commons has a maximum term of 5 years, at the end of which a general election must be held.
The Government
The term “the government” can be used to refer to all politicians who have been appointed by the monarch to help run government departments or to take on various other special responsibilities, such as managing the activities of the parliament. The other meaning of the term “the government” refers only to the most powerful of these politicians, namely the Prime Minister and other members of the cabinet.
Partly as a result of the electoral system, Britain, unlike much of western Europe, normally has a “single-party government”. In other words, all members of the government belong to the same political party. The habit of single-party government has helped to established the tradition known as collective responsibility. All important decisions are made by the Government. It consists of about 100 members who usually belong to one of the Houses of Parliament.
The cabinet
The cabinet started in the eighteenth century as an informal grouping of important ministers and officials of the royal household. The Government was run by the Privy Council, a body of hundred and more people – including those belonging to “the cabinet” – directly responsible to the monarch. In the twentieth century, the cabinet has itself become more and more “official” and publicly recognised and much of the real decision-making takes place in the cabinet.
The cabinet meets once a week and takes decisions about new policies, the implementation of existing policies and the running of the various government departments. The members of the Cabinet are chosen by the Prime Minister and may or may not have a government department under them.
The Prime Minister
The position of a British Prime Minister (PM) is in direct contrast to that of the monarch. Although the Queen or the King appears to have a great deal of power, in reality she/he has very little. The Prime Minister, on the other hand, appears not to have much power but in reality has a very great deal indeed.
Today the Governments power is concentrated in the hand of the Prime Minister, who at the same time is the leader of his party. He is the head of the government and has a seat in the Commons. Among other responsibilities, he recommends a number of appointments to the sovereign, including senior clergy of the Church of England.
UK Government with FM perspective
The UK’s central government is made up of different government departments, such as Health and Social Care, Transport, and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The UK Government also includes a central department called the Cabinet Office. This ministerial department liaises with the different thematic departments on key government priorities and is closely linked to the Prime Minister.
These Departments are the major buyers of the FM outsourcing services in UK. The top buyers include:
- Home Office
- Department for Transport
- Cabinet Office
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Ministry of Justice
- Department for Education
- Ministry of Defence
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Health and Safety Executive (non-ministerial department)
Sustainability & Carbon Neutrality – Role of Local Authorities
What does ‘net zero’ mean?
Net zero means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Achieving it means reducing emissions as much as possible, as well as balancing out any that remain by removing an equivalent amount.
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) are released when we burn oil, gas and coal for our homes, factories and transport. Methane is produced through farming and landfill. These gases cause global warming by trapping the sun’s energy. Meanwhile, rapid deforestation across the world means there are fewer trees and plants to absorb CO2.
Will net zero mean a complete end to CO2 emissions?
Not all emissions can be reduced to zero, so those that remain have to be compensated for, or offset – for example, by planting more trees. Almost every country has embarked on tree planting as a cheap way of reducing carbon, although there may not be enough space for the number required.
Carbon capture and storage has also been suggested as another solution. This involves using machinery to remove carbon from the air, then solidifying it and burying it underground. However, the technology is still emerging, very expensive and as yet unproven.
What will net zero mean for individuals?
It won’t be easy. Reaching net zero will involve moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy for our power, and abandoning vehicles run on petrol and diesel, in favour of those powered by electricity and hydrogen.
Gas central heating will need to be replaced by alternative sources, such as heat pumps. Reaching net zero could also mean flying far less in future, and eating less red meat.
What has the UK committed to do?
Presenting the government’s net zero strategy to the House of Commons in the run up to COP26 last November the government pledged:
- £620m in grants for electric vehicles and charging points, plus £350m to help the transition from petrol
- Grants of up to £5,000 for householders to install low-carbon heat pumps
- £120m to develop small nuclear reactors (no announcement on the go-ahead for the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk)
- £625m for tree planting and peat restoration
- More money for carbon capture and storage hubs
What are the UK’s major contributors to net greenhouse emissions?
The government has already announced a ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, and that all the UK’s electricity will come from renewable sources by 2035.
Facilities Management (FM) Services in UK
The UK is one of Europe’s most developed and comprehensive markets for facility management services with regard to size & sophistication. Due to the widespread use of facility management services, vendors are now increasingly focusing on using specialized services to gain a foothold in the market, which has also witnessed several changes due to the macro-economic and social changes in the country.
Over the last decade, several service vendors operating in the country have been focused on expanding their presence to leverage the growing demand for facility management, especially with the recent trend favouring the outsourcing of non-core operations. The country has been witnessing an increased number of opportunities to leverage facility management and corporate real estate in innovative ways, given the dynamics across the country.
Key trends suggest that the United Kingdom continues to attract investment opportunities from global specialist facility management companies to address challenges in the local, fragmented markets. Large strategic buyers are highly active, mopping up smaller rivals, and private equity investment is rising as financial sponsors continued to finance the deployment. Moreover, technology-enabled business models have resulted in rising valuations in the country.
FM Outsourcing by Central Government Entities
The Central Government Entities which include different Departments, Cabinet Office and governing authorities are one of the largest buyers of FM Services in the UK. The sector contributes a significant share in the business portfolio of large FM Suppliers and other small & mid-sized companies.
Looking at the current volume of running agreements between Central government authorities with suppliers of various FM services, the sector is as large as £21.5 billion in terms of Total Contract Value. The sector procures multiple services from FM suppliers including Hard and Soft FM with a bulk of the agreements being sourced under Integrated services. Repair & Maintenance, Cleaning, Catering, Security, Waste Management, Engineering consultancy are few among a large pool of services procured by this sector. Through this article we will have a detailed look at several aspects of the role played by FM suppliers for the Central Government Authorities.
Service dissection
Total Market Size ~£21.5 billion
- The Integrated FM services which are preferred by some buyers for ease of dealing with a single supplier for all outsourcing needs command the maximum share of the overall value pie with 46% of the FM Services to the Central Government Sector. These services are as large as £8 billion in TCV.
- The Hard FM services procured by the sector are ~£7 billion in TCV with Repair and Maintenance services leading at £4.1 Billion worth of contracts followed by Engineering & Consulting with TCV of £1.7 Billion as per our database. These services have a 36% share of all FM services to this market sector.
- The soft FM services which include Cleaning, Catering, Security, Waste Management and other similar services own contracts worth £8 Billion and an 18% share of the overall value business.
Main Stakeholders
Apart from the Central Government Entities who are the key buyers of FM outsourcing services, there are scores of FM suppliers who cater to these outsourcing needs. A look at the key players on the supply side gives a clear idea that large FM Supplier groups dominate the list of suppliers to this sector.
The key suppliers of FM services to Central Government offices and other organizations are predominantly large business groups operating in several markets across the globe with multiple business interests. Mitie, G4S, Sodexo, Compass, Serco, CBRE to name a few are global corporations that cater to FM outsourcing needs of this sector in UK.
Apart from serving the Central Government Sector, the overall FM market in UK is one of the largest markets in Europe in terms of maturity and sophistication. The market is highly competitive owing to the presence of several organized players and strong presence of top global companies, such as Mitie, ISS, Sodexo, CBRE, JLL among others. It is a large market with some estimates putting the annual revenues in the vicinity of 40-45 Billion USD. As per Baachu Database, however, the total contract value remains in the range of £100 Billion for Contracts with terms ranging from one to 10 Years on an average. To have a detailed view of the UK FM Market with complete sector & services breakdown, please download our comprehensive report here .This report is unique for its treatment of the growth aspect being based on the real contracts and their value. The report complements similar report from Frost & Sullivan as that report gives a glimpse of future growth based on revenues while Baachu has used Total Contract Value as the basis.
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