§ 15. Sir Reginald Eyreasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of keeping and updating the land registers of public vacant land; how many civil servants, part or full-time, are employed in maintaining the land registers; and what is the estimated cost on his Vote for so doing.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe departmental staff and accommodation costs of maintaining the land registers are not separately identified, but are estimated at about £325,000 per annum. The equivalent of 21 full-time staff are employed for the purpose.
§ Sir Reginald EyreIs my hon. Friend aware that the Department's announcement last week about compulsory sales of land is greatly to be welcomed and will help to justify that expense? Can he give further details of the procedure to be adopted, and will he vigorously follow up this new approach?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. The announcement meets observations and requests made by many of my right hon. and hon. Friends, not least my hon. Friend the Member for South Hams (Mr. Steen), who has been very vigilant on this. We have to proceed slowly, as the land is not owned by the Department. Many nationalised industries and local authorities actually own the land. We have now made progress and issued first directions to local authorities in Darlington, Sunderland, Oldham and Nottingham. We shall be watching the situation closely and continuing the kind of progress that my hon. Friend seeks.
§ Mr. Tony BanksWhat discussions has the Minister had with his colleagues about releasing some of the land held by the Ministry of Defence?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThat is a topic for continuing discussion by Ministers and officials.