§ Mr. KnapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has made in selling the Building Management Businesses.
§ Mr. Curry[pursuant to his answer, 24 June 1993, col. 247]: I am pleased to be able to announce the exchange of contracts for the sale of the PSA building management business BM Scotland. The business has been sold to Serco.
This sale will benefit taxpayers, staff and customers. The next step is for staff to choose individually whether to transfer to the privatised business. The future of the business now lies in the private sector and I hope many staff will choose to transfer with it. Completion of the sale is expected at the end of August.
Serco will pay the Government £3.5 million for the business. The Government will, in addition, meet the costs of redundancies, should they be necessary, up to an agreed figure in the first five years following completion of the sale. The redundancy entitlement of transferring staff will be guaranteed by the Government for five years after the sale. Further details cannot be released until all the sales have been completed.
Serco is a leading company in the facilities management field. I am confident that the combination of its commercial skills with the strengths of the BM Scotland work force will give the business a sound future in the private sector.
I hope to make further announcements soon about the sales of the other two BM businesses.