'This guide is a valuable foundation for building partnerships between councils and the construction industry. With its detailed look at Best Value in the built environment, I am sure this guide will be of great use to practitioners in the field. Used in combination with the imagination and vision that Best Value demands, it can do much to assist local government in modernising practices and delivering quality services to local people.' - Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for Local Government Local government is facing the considerable challenge of meeting the Government's Best Value guidelines, of modernising practices and delivering quality services to local people. Advancing Best Value in the built Environment is an essential tool for meeting these challenges and embracing the necessary changes to policies, strategies, operational issues and culture. Developed by some 30 local authorities and 22 private sector companies, working together over a two-year period, this guide will enable readers to apply the principles of Best Value to all areas of their organisations. This 450-page loose-leaf guide contains practical advice with tables, diagrams, examples and background material, all designed to help simplify and aid the advancement of Best Value, exemplifying current best practice