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Local councils in England own £250bn worth of property.

Here's a fact which has amazed many people at Westminster today: local councils in England own £250bn worth of property.

The discovery has been made by , the MP for West Suffolk, who also has the job of being Chairman of the (wait for this) , inquiry into 'rationalising' local government.

For months, the Government has been telling councils that if they look at their costs, it should be possible to cut their budgets without affecting front-line services.

Mr Hancock has discovered that if they look at their property portfolio there is scope for big savings.

In a , endorsed by the Communites Secretary Eric Pickles, he says it should be possible for councils to reduce the space they need by 30% and save £7bn a year.

"We all know that money is tight," says Mr Hancock, "this is a way that councils can save money and if they can do it they won't have to put up council tax or cut services".

One of the most interestings findings of the report is the benefits that can be achieved if public services are provided from the same location.

It cites the example of West Suffolk House in Bury St Edmunds, where the borough council and county council have moved into a new, environmentally-friendly building where they share office space, printers, meeting rooms, IT hardware, a reception and canteen.

Both councils sold several old buildings in the town before moving in.

Overall, they believe the move is saving council tax payers nearly a million pounds a year.

It also mentions how (which owns 2,500 properties - exlcuding council housing - worth £500m) has already found savings of £1.6m by reviewing its portfolio.

The report also suggests that councils consider sharing their premises with other public and voluntary organisations.

This is what is starting to do and it expects to make savings of between 15 and 20%.

Among other suggestions made by Mr Hancock: councils should start to share their administrative services with other authorities like finance, human resourecs and internal audit.

This is what and are doing and £1.6m of savings have already been identified for this year alone. In six years time the councils expect to be saving at least £3.6m a year.

And it's also suggested that councils think about making more use of sharing pool cars.

Critics of the cuts will say that this is all easier said than done, that it takes time to plan new buildings and organise moves.

But Mr Hancock believes it's worth the hassle in return for the substantial savings which can be made.

The Government agrees: his report will be quoted at length by Ministers to any council that complains that it's finding it hard to protect front-line services.

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