§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the items in the National Assets Register sold by his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies since 15 February 1999, stating in each case the amount of money realised; if he will estimate the total amount raised from such sales to date; and if he will make a statement. [104479]
§ Mr. MorleySome £16,744,388 has accrued to my Department, its agencies and associated non-departmental public bodies from sales of surplus assets disposed of since 15 February 1999.
A summary of individual assets and groups of assets sold or otherwise disposed of by my Department and its associated bodies since February 1999 is contained in the following tables. The table headings reflect the categories reported in the National Asset Register.
Categories where no disposals have taken place have been omitted.
More detailed information (such as types of computer, descriptions of individual vehicles) is held by the Department but would be expensive to compile.
Since the National Asset Register was published in November 1997, a total of £29,374,183 has been realised from disposals of such assets.
The Department remains committed to the early identification of surplus assets and their disposal on terms favourable to the public purse.
1. Property
The Ministry has disposed of the sites listed since 15 February 1999, and realised £14,450,100 to date. A further £1,850,000 is payable to MAFF in 2000–01 arising from these sales. Individual figures for each item are held by my Department but have not been reported here for reasons of commercial confidentiality.A number of surplus properties remain. Action is in hand to dispose of these at best value to the Department.1A. Freehold Property—HQ and Regional Offices
Berkeley Towers, Nantwich Road, Crewe1B. Freehold Property—Laboratories
Central Science Laboratory, London Road, SloughCSL National Bees Unit, Luddington, Stratford upon Avon (2 plots)1C. Freehold Property—Farms etc.
571WEfford EHS, Lymington, Hants. (part)Marsh Cottages, Rosemaund, Preston Wynne, Hereford1 Marsh Cottages, Rosemaund, Preston Wynne, Hereford9 Great North Road, Chawston, BedsHurstborne Common, Andover, Hants.1D. Freehold Property—Buffer Depots
Former RAF station, Strubby, Alford, Lincs.Gravel Pit, Hertford Road, Hoddesdon, Herts.Towy Avenue, Llandovery, Dyfed2B. Historic Leasehold Property—Laboratories
Olantigh Road, Wye, Ashford, Kent3A. Long Leasehold Property—Laboratories
CSL Colney Lane, Norwich.
5A. Information Technology—Equipment (Servers, Pcs) Description Number disposed of Sales receipts (£) MAFF 104 0 PSD 69 0 MHS 1— 0 CSL 78 0 VMD 1— 0 VLA 3 0 CEFAS 1— 0 FRCA 1— 0 Total > 254 0 1 Where number of units are not stated, the information is available but due to changes in local accounting systems could only be retrieved at significant cost. Notes:
As a consequence of technical obsolescence, IT disposals tend to have no resale value. The Department and its Agencies seek to maximise the use of existing technology where possible, and only dispose of IT equipment when it can ńo longer meet the Department's needs.
The Department has incurred some additional expense to dispose safely of PCBs and Monitors but this cost is not readily distinguishable from other expenditure on waste disposal.
5B. Information Technology—Main Systems
Version 9.3.7 of the "ORACLE Financials" Resource Accounting and Management Information System has been superseded by version 10.7. The earlier version has been retained for accessing archived data. PSD upgraded their SUN Accounts system in March 1999. Although there was no cash benefit from the disposal of the old system and associated equipment, the Agency received a trade-in value of £20,000 against the cost of the upgrade.Some non-critical software systems were capitalised on MAFF and Agency Accounts where material external costs had been incurred. These had no residual value, were not Millennium compliant, and have been written off from the accounts.
6. Office Equipment Description Numbers disposed of Sales receipts (£) MAFF 25 2,350 PSD — — MHS — — CSL 1 0 VMD — — VLA — — CEFAS — — FRCA — — Total 26 2,350 572W
7. Scientific and Laboratory Equipment Description Numbers disposed of Sales receipts (£) MAFF — — PSD — — MHS — — CSL 62 0
7. Scientific and Laboratory Equipment Description Numbers disposed of Sales receipts (£) VMD — — VLA 78 14,668 CEFAS — — FRCA — — Total 140 14,668 8. Furniture and Fittings
Small amounts of furniture and fittings have been disposed of when dilapidated, but with no resale value.
9. Vehicles Description Numbers disposed of Sales receipts (£) MAFF 49 137,316 PSD — — MHS 7 32,240 CSL 21 64,720 VMD — — VLA 7 7,015 CEFAS 18 14,547 FRCA 6 14,033 Total 108 269,871 12. Non-Departmental Public Bodies
Covent Garden Market AuthorityNo items have been sold since 15 February 1999, though plant and equipment with a book value of £3,069 was disposed of with no cash benefit.Total sales since 1997 = £2,359.Food from Britain
No assets have been disposed of since 15 February 1999.Total sales since 1997 = £30,302Horticulture Research International
No assets have been disposed of since 15 February 1999. There have been no sales receipts for registered assets since 1997.Meat and Livestock Commission
Sales of surplus assets since 15 February 1999:
- IT Equipment: £3,000
- Vehicles: £122,000
- Total Sales since 1997 = £474,000.
Sea Fish Industry Authority
The following items have been sold since 15 February 1999:
- Office equipment: £1,478
- IT Equipment: £251
- Vehicles: £950
- Disposals with no cash benefit—1 portacabin.
- Total sales since 1997 = £15,988.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The following items have been sold since 15 February 1999:
- Scientific and Laboratory Equipment: £1,170
- Vehicles: £10,900
- Total sales since 1997 = £24,326.