How can the UK’s public sector ensure its estates remain efficient, sustainable, and fit for the future?   

Estates and facilities professionals are under mounting pressure to modernise ageing public buildings against the UK's legally binding net zero by 2050 target, guided by the Government Property Strategy 2022–2030 and the Government Property Sustainability Strategy. Regulatory change shows no sign of slowing either: the Fire Safety Act 2021, the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 continue to redefine compliance obligations across the sector, and 23% of facilities managers are planning to increase investment in compliance and safety measures despite ongoing budget pressure. Meanwhile, the sector itself is being reshaped by growing adoption of smart building technologies, IoT-enabled monitoring, and AI-driven predictive maintenance across public estates.  

These shifts are landing on teams already stretched thin. Financial resilience is becoming a core FM skill, as organisations balance compliance, safety and performance within increasingly constrained budgets, while an ageing workforce, recruitment challenges and growing role complexity are widening a skills gap across the sector.  

The Institute of Government & Public Policy has earned a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking facilities and estate management conferences. The Institute of Government & Public Policy's National Facilities Management in the Public Sector Show 2027 will bring together estates leaders, facilities professionals, sustainability experts and strategic suppliers to explore practical solutions to these shared challenges.  

Feedback from the 2026 event includes: 

"A well-planned event with a strong spread of subjects covered, from procurement to sustainability, the agenda gave a genuinely useful range of perspectives on the challenges facing public sector estates." 

"The long-term strategic thinking and opportunities for collaboration were particularly valuable, exactly the kind of insight I want to bring back to my organisation." 

"Really well planned and executed. A good range of speakers and topics made it easy to find sessions directly relevant to my role." 

Join the Institute of Government & Public Policy for the National Facilities Management in the Public Sector Show 2027, which has been designed to address these critical challenges head-on. The Facilities Management in the Public Sector Show 2027 brings together estates leaders, facilities professionals, sustainability experts and strategic suppliers to cut through these pressures offering actionable guidance on decarbonising your estate, adopting the right technology, and building compliant, future-ready public buildings.