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Communities secretary Eric Pickles has called on every council to release details of the land and buildings they own.
He said most taxpayers are unaware of the "sheer scale and scope" of the number of assets owned by the public sector.
The government has produced a map of local authority assets belonging to 87 councils in England, in a bid to improve their management.
Pickles is calling on all public bodies to catalogue every asset in a bid to identify billions of pounds of potential savings.
The publication of the map follows several disputes between Whitehall and town halls about the impact of spending cuts outlined since the coalition came to power last year.
Many councils say owning land and property helps them generate income.
Land and property owned by the public sector are worth an estimated £385bn, with almost two thirds owned by councils, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said.
DCLG published the lists of thousands of assets owned by 600 councils and public sector bodies.
It includes shops, restaurants, cinemas, pubs, golf clubs, football clubs, theatres and hotels.
Pickles said: "We need to know, now more than ever, exactly what assets are publicly owned.
"The general public probably have no idea of the sheer scale and scope of property and land on the public sector's books. In many cases it goes way beyond traditional frontline services.
"I want the public sector to take a good hard look at what they own. By cataloguing each and every asset councils can help government find innovative new ways to utilise them, improve local services, keep council running costs down and save taxpayers' money."
Shadow local government minister Jack Dromey said he agreed that councils have a duty to tackle waste and make sure the assets they hold deliver the "best value for money for local people".
"However, nothing should deflect from the fact that the size and speed of the Tory-led government's decision to hit councils with deliberately frontloaded cuts has seen front-line services lost, cuts to charities and the voluntary sector and local jobs lost," he said.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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