§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the Secretary.of State for Social Security what the cost of insurance incurred by his Department was to cover its buildings and employees in(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000 and (d) 2000–01 in Scotland. [154443]
§ Mr. Rooker[holding answer 20 March 2001]: On 1 April 1998 all of the Department's buildings in Scotland were transferred under the PRIME contract to the private sector consortium Trillium. The insurance cover of the buildings is now a matter for Trillium.
Prior to 1 April 1998, the insurance charges for any sites the Department occupied under a lease would have been paid by landlords and where appropriate passed on to the Department via the service charge. Details of the cost of this to the Department in 1997–98 are not available. Additionally, all departmental buildings owned by the Department were covered by Crown Indemnity and the Department was not required to provide any insurance cover for these buildings.
The principles of Crown Indemnity apply equally to all forms of compulsory insurance. The Department is therefore exempt from providing any insurance cover for its employees.