§ Mr. Steenasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current number of vacant or derelict offices, houses and other properties belonging to his Department; and what are his plans to sell or utilise them.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 5 April 1984, c. 622]: There are currently 45 vacant properties belonging to the Department. These are all under the control of the Manpower Services Commission and they consist of: one Skillcentre, three Skillcentre annexes, six jobcentre employment offices, 22 office suites and 13 offices previously occupied by industrial training boards.
The MSC has set up a property disposal unit specifically to ensure that surplus property is disposed of as quickly and economically as possible, through the Property Services Agency and agents in the private sector.