HC Deb 03 March 1998 vol 307 cc595-8W
Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated current value of the Central Science Laboratory sites at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich. [32118]

Mr. Rooker

Assessments of value as at 31 March 1997 have been prepared for Capital Charging purposes. These valuations on a depreciated replacement cost basis have been made in accordance with the Appraisal and Valuation Manual published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The values assessed are £87,750,000 and £7,800,000 for Sand Hutton, York and for Colney Lane, Norwich respectively. They do not purport to be the values that might be achieved on disposal.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list, for the Central Science Laboratory at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich, the items of scientific and laboratory equipment, with their estimated current value, included in the National Asset Register. [32117]

Mr. Rooker

The National Asset Register summarised the asset groupings for the Central Science Laboratory. A list of the items concerned could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The estimated current value for scientific and laboratory equipment at the Sand Hutton, York site is £3.3 million and for the Colney Lane, Norwich site, £1.6 million.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many non-scientific staff were employed and what was the total non-scientific pay bill at the Central Science Laboratory sites at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich, in each of the last three years. [32109]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: The Central Science Laboratory commenced relocation to Sand Hutton, York in the autumn of 1996 and this was completed in the summer of 1997. There is therefore no information available in relation to the Sand Hutton site for the last three years. The information for Colney Lane, Norwich is set out in the table.

£ million
Non-scientists Non-scientific pay bill
1995–96 27 0.34
1996–97 28 0.36
1997–98 (projected) 28 0.37

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much income was received by the Central Science Laboratory in the 1996–97 financial year from research contracts based primarily at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich, from (i) his Department, (ii) other public sector agencies and (iii) private companies. [32112]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: The Central Science Laboratory commenced relocation to Sand Hutton, York in the autumn of 1996 and this was completed in the summer of 1997. It is therefore not possible to provide information on the income from research contracts undertaken primarily at Sand Hutton for this period. The information for Colney Lane, Norwich is set out in the table.

£ million
Income
MAFF 5.4
Other public agencies 0.3
Private sector 0.6
Total 6.3

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of the available laboratory and office space at the Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton, York, would remain unoccupied if the Norwich-based scientific staff of CSL were relocated to York. [32116]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: There would be no unoccupied laboratory and office space were the Norwich Laboratory to be relocated to York.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the annual overhead costs of the Central Science Laboratory sites at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich, in each of the last three years. [32110]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: The Central Science Laboratory commenced relocation to Sand Hutton, York in the autumn of 1996 and this was completed in the summer of 1997. There is therefore no information available in relation to the Sand Hutton site for the last three years. The information for Colney Lane, Norwich is set out in the table.

£ million
Costs
1995–96 0.77
1996–97 0.78
1997–98 (projected) 0.79

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many scientists working for the Central Science Laboratory are based at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich. [32111]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: Of the total number of scientists currently employed by the Central Science Laboratory, 328 are based at the Sand Hutton, York Laboratory and 109 at the Colney Lane, Norwich Laboratory.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for the Central Science Laboratory sites at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich, (i) the total space available for laboratories and offices and (ii) the proportion of laboratory space which is currently unoccupied. [32115]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: The office and laboratory floor area capable of practical use at the Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton, York is 15,600 square metres. There are no totally unoccupied offices or laboratories but some areas are under-utilised.

At the Central Science Laboratory site in Colney Lane, Norwich, the floor area capable of practical use is 2,200 square metres, but this figure includes common service areas that are duplicated at Sand Hutton, York. There are no unoccupied office or laboratory areas at Colney Lane.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the organisations which have made representations to his Department with proposals for future use of the CSL laboratories at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich; and if he will place a summary of these representations in the Library. [32113]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: The Department has received some correspondence on this matter and there have been meetings, together with my colleagues, with certain interests including representatives of the Universities of York and East Anglia, Bioscience York, and Members of Parliament from both cities. The representations have outlined, respectively, the importance of the Department's scientific activities and laboratories to each city, the present synergies with other local scientific facilities, and the prospects for their development.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consideration his Department has given to the future of the CSL laboratories at York and Norwich following the conclusion of the prior options review in 1996. [32114]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 2 March 1998]: Following the 1996 Prior Options review of Public Sector Research Establishments such as the Central Science Laboratory, we have been considering the best means of securing value for money given our substantial investments in the laboratories at York and Norwich. Independent management consultancy advice, informing the Prior Options process, noted that a key aspect was to ensure maximum utilisation of the new laboratory at Sand Hutton, York. We have taken no firm decisions at present but are exploring, from a number of aspects, the possibility of collocating the York and Norwich laboratories on the Sand Hutton site. I shall announce our findings on this in due course.