§ 35. Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North)What discussions he has had with the National Audit Office on the resource implications of examining public expenditure on Archway tower, N19. [90235]
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon (Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission)The commission meets regularly with the Comptroller and Auditor General to discuss the adequacy of the resources allocated by Parliament to the work of the National Audit Office. The Comptroller and Auditor General audits the accounts of the property advisers to the civil estate, which is the 786 agency responsible for the management of Archway tower and other vacant government property. In 1997, he published a report on the agency's management of vacant office accommodation throughout the United Kingdom, which recommended various ways of minimising the costs incurred. Although that report did not specifically examine the agency's management of Archway tower, I would be happy to pass on any concerns that my hon. Friend may have on that subject to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
§ Mr. CorbynI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his reply and for what he said about passing information on to the Comptroller and Auditor General. I am concerned that a building that has been leased by the public sector—on a long lease to the Department of Social Security at a rent of £1 million a year—after being built by it has been empty for at least the past five years. The net cost to the public has been £1 million a year and, although £5 million has now been spent on refurbishing the building, I understand that the expected rent income will not meet even the existing cost to the public sector of that rent. The public sector has been ripped off and we are throwing good money after bad.
Will the Comptroller and Auditor General seriously consider the massive waste of public money on a building that is unsuitable and disliked locally? It would be better to pull down this expensive white elephant and turn it into something much more useful.
§ Mr. SheldonI can confirm that the Comptroller and Auditor General naturally is interested in the matter. Negotiations on the terms of the lease have been protracted, but they are to be concluded shortly. There will be some sub-letting, which will of course provide some income to offset some of the costs to which my hon. Friend refers.
§ Mr. Mike Hancock (Portsmouth, South)While the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee is looking into the issue of the Archway tower, will he look into the issue of the Millennium tower at Portsmouth—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. This is a specific question.