§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the total amount of vacant land held by each Welsh local authority, the percentage this represents of each local authorities total land holding and as a percentage of the total land within each authority's area, and the estimated value of the vacant land held by each local authority together with the measures being taken by his Department to encourage local authorities to release such land.
§ Mr. GristInformation on local authorities' total land holdings and on the value of registered land is not available centrally. Information summarising the Department's land registers could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Measures to encourage the disposal or bringing in to use of authorities' vacant land include incentives for disposal available under the capital and revenue finance systems, the public accessibility of the land register and of individual owners' registers, publicity given to the public right to order disposal, and in appropriate cases directions under section 98 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 to take steps to dispose of particular sites. We are currently considering what further measures might be appropriate to reduce the amount of public sector vacant land.