§ Mr. Macfarlaneasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the present staff levels in the Property Services Agency; and what these were in 1970 and 1975.
§ Mr. MarksThe Property Services Agency was not set up until 1st September 1972. The numbers of non-industrial and industrial staff—excluding locally engaged staff overseas—were on 1st October 1972, 1975 and 1978 as follows:
1st October 1972 47,070 1st October 1975 44,850 1st October 1978 40,273
§ Mr. Macfarlaneasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied that every contract given by the Property Services Agency to suppliers is competitive.
§ Mr. MarksI am satisfied that PSA supplies departs from the normal practice 529W of competitive tendering only when circumstances require.
§ Mr. Macfarlaneasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the offices of the Property Services Agency throughout the United Kingdom and the properties that each office administers;
(2) if he will list the Property Services Agency offices throughout the United Kingdom and the defence establishments for which they are responsible.
§ Mr. MarksThe Property Services Agency—PSA—has general responsibility for meeting the needs of central Government, the Armed Services, the Post Office —in part—and certain other public sector clients for land, accommodation, fixed installations and some associated supplies and transport services.
The Agency's main headquarter offices are in London, although some headquarters functions for Scotland are carried out by the Directorate of Scottish Services in Edinburgh. There is also a central office for Wales in Cardiff. Apart from these, there are eight English regional offices in London, Leeds, Cambridge, Hastings, Reading, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester. In addition, there are 34 area offices and 162 district works offices throughout the United Kingdom. Maintenance and operational services are provided by the district works offices, and in terms of territory these may cover anything from a single establishment to all the clients—civil and defence—in several counties. The area, regional, and headquarters offices provide design, project and estate management, supplies and other services.
I have sent the hon. Member a copy of the recently published annual report of the PSA, which deals in greater detail with the organisation and responsibilities of the Agency. I am also sending him a list showing the functions and territory covered by the offices in PSA's regional works organisation.
§ Mr. Macfarlaneasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the total sums spent by the Property Services Agency in 1977 on married quarters at Royal Naval establishments, Royal Air Force establishments and Army estab- 530W lishments, respectively, for both commissioned and non-commissioned ranks.
§ Mr. MarksThe combined sums spent on new provision, improvements and maintenance of all married quarters in the United Kingdom provided for both commissioned and non-commissioned Service men in the financial year 1977–78 were:
Royal Navy £5.679 million Army £29.756 million RAF £14.719 million Total £50.154 million