Government’s maintenance backlog 'at least £49bn', says NAO

A National Audit Office (NAO) report has estimated that the government’s maintenance backlog is at least £49bn.

It found that Ministry of Defence properties, schools and NHS properties have a backlog totalling more than £10bn each and make up 88% of the total backlog.

Sites including prisons, job and assessment centres, courts and museums and galleries have backlogs of less than £2bn each and make up the remaining 12%.

Building failures have affected the delivery of public services, the government’s productivity and its ability to withstand shocks.

On average, between 2019-20 and 2023-24, approximately 5,400 clinical service incidents occurred in the NHS every year due to property and infrastructure failures. Poor property condition can also negatively affect civil service productivity, staff retention and the government’s ability to meet environmental targets.

Data from individual organisations suggests that maintenance backlogs have been rising for at least a decade; for instance, between 2013-14 and 2022-23, NHS England’s backlog increased steadily, at an average of £800m per year (in 2023-24 real terms).

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