HC Deb 08 May 1989 vol 152 cc347-8W
Sir Eldon Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in the course of his examining the case for transferring Property Services Agency staff from Newmarket in the rural district of Forest Heath to the city of Cambridge, he took account of the submissions made to him by the Cambridgeshire Small Business Group about the impact on business and jobs and of the shortage and high cost of land in Cambridge and it's environs; how much land Property Services Agency now occupies at the Brooklands avenue site in Cambridge; how many civil servants of all Departments work there; what is his policy on accommodating civil servants in town centre sites in single storey accommodation built during the second world war; and whether, in view of his study of the housing situation in Cambridge, he will invite the Property Services Agency to reconsider its intention to abandon its site in Newmarket in favour of accommodation in Cambridge.

Mr. Chope

The site at Brooklands avenue, Cambridge, comprising some 30 acres, contains offices housing about 1,100 civil servants. The decision to transfer 49 Property Services Agency staff from Newmarket to Cambridge was taken some time ago on grounds of operational efficiency. It did not necessitate the acquisition of any more land. The chairman of the Cambridgeshire Small Business Group wrote to my right hon. Friend in March this year and has received a reply to the points he made in his letter. There is no reason to change the decision about the closure of the Property Services Agency office in Newmarket.