§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if it is his policy not to retain the former Department of the Environment Marsham Street buildings for use by the Civil Service; [132426]
(2) for how long the former Department of the Environment building in Marsham Street has been empty; what its floor space is; and if he will make a statement on his Department's disposal action for the building through his Central London Accommodation Strategy. [132425]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe building has been empty, apart from some temporary uses, including use as a shelter for the homeless, since 1997. It has 920,000 square feet (85,468 square metres) of floor space at ground level and above. It is proposed to retain part of the site and use it to construct offices for the Home Office, after demolition of the existing buildings. The rest of the site will be sold for residential or other uses. Bids from two private sector consortia are being evaluated and I expect it to be in a position to announce the outcome shortly.