LIFT has been incredibly successful as both a procurement route for new facilities and as a means of providing effective estate management solutions since the programme was first created by the Department of Health in 2000.  Since then, more than 260 facilities have been developed and more than £1.8 billion invested across England through the LIFT programme, to the benefit of countless local communities. 

 

This success is due to LIFT providing local partners with a more affordable and faster route for procurement, while also allowing schemes to be built and maintained according to local needs.

 

As this market continues to develop, so does the LIFT Council’s role as a voice for the LIFT community – representing not only private sector partners, but all those organisations involved in the delivery of local facilities.

 

The coming to power of the coalition government marks a watershed in the delivery of public services, and in the coming years government departments can expect a mentality of austerity in which they are expected to do more with less.

 

The LIFT initiative is ideally placed to meet this austerity and the resulting reconfiguration of public services.  Those communities and local authorities involved in LIFT will continue to see firsthand how it is a solution that is inherently flexible and able to meet their needs, while also delivering significant savings through the co-location of health and community service and the adoption of the best of private sector practices.

 

Chris Whitehouse