New Buildings and Premises

HC Deb 16 October 1996 vol 282 c959W

Mrs. Bridget Prentice

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total expenditure on new buildings and premises by his Department and its agencies; and if he will indicate the square footage of new office space purchased or newly rented in each of the last five years. [41149]

Mr. John M. Taylor

Within my Department, management of property is delegated to a series of property centres to maximise synergy with business operation. The DTI headquarters property centre has acquired only one new building over the past five years. To replace premises on which the lease had expired, we acquired in March 1995 about the same amount of new space—20,094 sq.ft.—at a total annual cost of £461,000.

I have asked the chief executives of the DTI's executive agencies to respond direct to the hon. Member.