§ Mr. Eggarasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the nationalised industries, non-governmental organisations and agencies for which his Department either has responsibility or provides funding, as well as those sections of his Department, which provide services to the general public or to private organisations; and if he will indicate separately those which at present (a) charge no fee, (b) charge fees which do not fully cover the costs of providing those services, (c) charge fees which exactly cover the costs of providing those services and (d) charge fees which more than cover the costs of providing those services.
§ Mr. Patrick Jenkin:The bodies for which my Department either has responsibility or provides funding are listed in "Public Bodies 1984" (HMSO, 1984). These bodies perform a range of functions which in some cases include services to the general public or private organisations; information concerning the level of cost recovery for specific services is not readily available in all cases but a general indication is provided in the following lists:
Public bodies providing a free service
- Board of Trustees for the Armouries (museum services)
- London Docklands Development Corporation (advisory services to industry)
- Mersey Development Corporation (advisory services to industry)
- Commons Commissioners
- Local Valuation Panels
- Rent Assessment Panels
Public bodies providing services for which fees are charged
- British Board of Agrément
- Development Commission/Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas
- Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (buildings and monuments open to the public)
- Sports Council (national sports centres)
Various sections of the Department of the Environment and the Property Services Agency provide services to the general public or private organisations; current services costing over £100,000 are as follows, based on 1983–84 costs and income:
a. Services for which no fee was charged
Tenants Exchange Scheme
b. Services for which fees did not fully cover costs
- Building Research Establishment: advisory and other services
- Registration of captive birds
- Royal palaces and royal parks
- Occupied ancient monuments
- Osborne House convalescent home
- Cabinet War Room Exhibition (forecast deficit, War Rooms opened in April 1984)
c. Services for which fees exactly covered costs
- Building Research Establishment: research work
- PSA works and estates services for non-Exchequer clients
d. Services for which fees more than covered costs
Crown Suppliers