§ 87. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will give details of Alexander House, Southend, the building to house the civil servants dealing with value added tax; how many rooms or offices it contains; what is its rateable value; how much it cost to build; whether it is freehold or leasehold; what are its annual upkeep costs; and how many civil servants are expected to be housed therein.
§ Mr. EyreAlexander House, Southend contains a number of large open plan offices on 15 floors and about 250 small rooms. It will house up to 2,000 civil servants, not all of whom will be dealing with value added tax. This is a leased building and the cost of its construction is not known. Necessary internal adaptations and the provision of a new computer building alongside it have cost the Exchequer about £670,000. The rateable value is £104,138. Its annual upkeep costs, which can only be estimated at this stage, are put at £25,000.