HC Deb 27 November 1992 vol 214 cc885-6W
Mr. William Ross

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimate of(a) the annual cost of insuring Windsor castle against fire, (b) the annual cost of insuring the contents of Windsor castle against fire damage, (c) the cost of insuring all Government-owned buildings against fire damage, (d) the cost of insuring the contents of all Government-owned buildings against fire damage and (e) what was the cost of (i) repairing such buildings and (ii) repairing and replacing the contents of such buildings in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr. Lamont

Estimates of the insurance costs are not available. There is no central record of losses but the value of losses due to fire reported by Departments to the Treasury during a review of Government insurance arrangements in 1991 was:

£ million
Year Value
1985–86 14.4
1986–87 3.4
1987–88 181.3
1988–89 0.8
1989–90 4.7

The 1987–88 figure includes a sum of £180.1 million relating to a single major fire at a Ministry of Defence depot. The figures do not include losses in respect of incidents costing less than £100,000 at Ministry of Defence establishments.