LGR: Asset management and contract transfer

This guidance outlines how public bodies should prepare for the expiry of PFI contracts, typically 25-30 years in length. It explains the importance of early preparation, managing existing contracts proactively, understanding contractual rights, planning asset surveys and hand back standards, assessing workforce and TUPE implications, evaluating financial and refinancing considerations and preparing for post expiry service delivery and asset management. The document also includes lessons learned from the 2020 NAO report and emphasises the need for structured, timely preparation to minimise risk and maintain service continuity.  

Page 3: The importance of timely preparation 
Page 4: Managing the current project 
Page 5: Preparing for contract expiry (initial steps, early planning) 
Page 6: Contractual options, handback standards & asset transfer 
Page 7: Workforce & TUPE considerations 
Page 8: Financial considerations and refinancing 
Page 9: 2020 NAO report – lessons learned. 

This commercial guidance and toolkit provides a structured framework for councils to strengthen commercial governance, improve contract management capability and ensure assets and services deliver expected value. It includes tools and templates to support contract oversight, risk assessment, supplier management, performance monitoring, commissioning and commercial decision making. The guidance helps public bodies manage complex contracts, prepare for future transitions and maintain service continuity during organisational change.  

Page 5: Purpose of the commercial guidance 
Page 6: What good commercial governance looks like 
Page 7: Commercial principles 
Page 9: Commercial governance maturity model 
Page 11: Commercial toolkit overview 
Page 12: Contract management toolkit 
Page 13: Procurement & commissioning toolkit 
Page 14: Risk management tools 
Page 15: Supplier relationship management tools 
Page 16: Commercial strategy & decision templates 
Page 17: Pipeline and forward planning tools. 

DJB Law has developed a checklist for transitional arrangements for property where the successor authority is a single unitary, and one for cases where there are multiple successor councils.

Page 3: Understanding your existing portfolio
Page 4: Making strategic decisions about your portfolio
Page 5-7: Optimising the estate before vesting day

Since the summer of 2025 Surrey District & Borough Councils, with support from Local Partnerships, have completed an extensive data gathering and analysis exercise in support of their LGR process. This work has included, among others, the establishment of a Project Management Organisation to facilitate the data gathering exercise, a standardised process for the collection, review and analysis of data and the development of Requests for Information (RFIs) in support of that process.

Based on this work, in support of the wider sector, the Data & Analytics team of Local Partnerships has developed an initial sub-section of the RFI’s into a set of generic templates, including one on property and facilities management, that councils can use for collecting consistent and comparable data required for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), alongside an RFI tracker document to help manage the project management of the data workflow.

The aim of the RFI templates is to help:

• Build a robust, evidence-based baseline to support planning for service transition and, subsequently, service transformation.
• Identify opportunities, risks, and integration challenges early.
• Reduce duplication, improve data quality and ensure data is collected once.

Since the summer of 2025 Surrey District & Borough Councils, with support from Local Partnerships, have completed an extensive data gathering and analysis exercise in support of their LGR process. This work has included, among others, the establishment of a Project Management Organisation to facilitate the data gathering exercise, a standardised process for the collection, review and analysis of data and the development of Requests for Information (RFIs) in support of that process.

Based on this work, in support of the wider sector, the Data & Analytics team of Local Partnerships has developed an initial sub-section of the RFI’s into a set of generic templates, including one on contracts, that councils can use for collecting consistent and comparable data required for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), alongside an RFI tracker document to help manage the project management of the data workflow.

The aim of the RFI templates is to help:

• Build a robust, evidence-based baseline to support planning for service transition and, subsequently, service transformation.
• Identify opportunities, risks, and integration challenges early.
• Reduce duplication, improve data quality and ensure data is collected once.

This case study explains the process of service and asset devolution to city, town and parish councils in Somerset against the backdrop of LGR. It provides lessons learned about ways of working with these local councils to devolve services, as well as some reflections about the process of local government reorganisation from officers who have been through it.

In November 2023, the council leader in Somerset wrote to all 272 city, town and parish councils, offering them a list of ‘at risk’ services and assets that could be devolved or approached collaboratively in future.

In total Somerset Council received over 80 expressions of interest from city, town and parish councils following the letter. They are all dealt with differently, depending on whether they are service or asset devolution. As of October 2025, Somerset Council had completed over 60 individual asset transfer to city, town and parish councils, with a further 50 with the legal team.

• background
• how were services devolved?
• governance and relationships
• things that helped make service devolution a success
• lessons learned and reflections
• service devolution lessons
• wider LGR reflections.