HL Deb 10 June 2002 vol 636 cc15-6WA
Lord Freyberg

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will give full details of the "non-operational art and antiques situated in Whitehall buildings" that are held by the Cabinet Office and valued at over £6 million in the National Asset Register. [HL3866]

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn)

There are over 400 non-operational arts and antiques situated in Whitehall buildings. These can be categorised as follows:

No. of items £
Furniture 257 5,203,475.00
Carpets 8 94,100.00
Clocks 33 188,500.00
Silver 60 193,210.00
European and Oriental 27 34,450.00
European Art 10 400,000.00
Ceramics 6 2,650.00
Total 6,116,385.00

Lord Freyberg

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will give full details of the "non-operational assets donated to serving Prime Ministers, past and present" that are held by the Cabinet Office and valued at over £1.4 million in the National Asset Register. [HL3867]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

It has never been the practice to release this information in this way. The asset register clearly lays out that the majority of gifts are mainly jewellery items. There are valid security reasons for not placing such data freely in the public domain.