HC Deb 28 June 1993 vol 227 cc343-4W
Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the buildings currently owned or rented by his Department, together with(a) the estimated value, (b) the annual rent and (c) the annual maintenance cost of each building in the current financial year.

Mr. Howard:

[holding answer 3 June 1993 ] : The information is not recorded centrally and is not available in the form requested. The number of buildings owned or rented by the Home Office—on the prisons and non-prisons estates—is set out in the tables, together with details, where available, of the estimated value of the estate and the rents or leases payable.

Prison Service Estate Number of Buildings Estimated Value
Prison Establishments 129 £3–4 billion
Prison Quarters 2,296 £110–140 million
Other Buildings 15 £0.75–1.25 million
Total 2,440 £3–4 billion

The majority of the prison quarters and other buildings are freehold. A total of 127 prison establishments are owned by the Department and two are leased. The rents payable for prison service property and farmland in 1993–94 will be in the region of 1 million pounds. The accommodation and maintenance charges for the headquarters buildings, including prison service training schools and supply and transport branch, will total approximately £17 million and minor repairs and maintenance to prison establishments will cost about £18 million in 1993–94.

Non-prisons estate Number of buildings Rent or leases payable per annum (£ million)
Owned buildings 16 —
Rented buildings 97 33.4
Leased buildings 34 11

Non-prisons estate Number of buildings Rent or leases payable per annum (£ million)
— —
Total 147 44.4

Of the buildings on the non-prisons estate which are not owned by this Department 88 are on the common user estate and are thus owned or rented by the property holdings directorate of the Department of the Environment to whom we pay rent to cover the costs of our occupations in the buildings.

Information on the value of the buildings on the non-prisons estate is not readily available and a full valuation could be carried out only at disproportionate cost. The estimated cost of maintenance in 1993–94 is £17 million.