HC Deb 24 March 1994 vol 240 cc390-1W
Mr. Henderson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many companies expressed an interest in the purchase of the PSA's Building Management south-east division when its sale was announced in January.

Mr. Curry

A total of 170.

Mr. Henderson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was his Department's estimate as to the sum which would accrue to the Government following the takeover of the PSA's Building Management South-East; and what assumptions underlay this estimate.

Mr. Curry

It would not be right for the vendor to make public the assumptions or estimates which led to the sale of Building Management South East, while discussions are continuing with the purchasers of the business with a view to agreeing a completion statement, in accordance with the sale agreement. As is usual in the case of major privatisations, the National Audit Office is conducting a study of the sales of the Building Management businesses the findings of which will be published in due course.

Mr. Henderson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria, apart from price, were used to evaluate the bids for the purchase of the PSA's Building Management south-east division.

Mr. Curry

As the sale documentation made clear, regard would be had to the following factors, in addition to price, in selecting purchasers for the PSA Building Management businesses:

  • Purchasers' financial status;
  • The credibility of purchasers' long term future plans;
  • Purchasers' commitment to developing the BM business or businesses in the private sector;
  • Purchasers' intentions regarding staff and the prospects for staff;
  • Purchasers' responses to the proposed secondment and pension arrangements;
  • Purchasers' commitment to ensuring continuity of service to existing customers; and
  • A preference to sell the businesses to different purchasers in order to promote competitive private sector markets.

Mr. Henderson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff transferred from the PSA's Building Management south-east division to AMEC plc and Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers Ltd. when the sale of BMSE was completed.

Mr. Curry

A total of 438.

Government grants: 1993–94 estimates
£ thousand
Revenue grants1 Capital grants Housing subsidies2 Total
Lewisham 214,560 10,004 73,923 298,486
Bromley 140,342 5,244 0 145,586
Wandsworth 260,200 6,031 42,531 308,762
Hammersmith and Fulham 170,834 3,887 43,362 218,083
Kingston-upon-Thames 69,797 2,237 7,389 79,423
1Revenue grants consist of Revenue Support Grant, Specific and Special Grants; redistributed non-domestic rates are excluded.
2This consists of Housing Revenue account Subsidies and contributions towards running costs of Approved Home Improvement Agencies.

Mr. Harvey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average revenue support grant per capita awarded to local authorities which are(a) Conservative controlled, (b) Liberal Democrat controlled, (c) Labour controlled and (d) under no overall control.

Mr. Baldry

Revenue support grant is distributed so that, if all authorities spent at their standard spending assessment, all council tax payers could receive broadly a standard level of service while paying the same level of

Conservative Liberal Democrat Labour No overall control Other All
Inner London boroughs 573 1,166 756 777 741
Outer London boroughs 387 257 552 425 436
Metropolitan districts 310 424 391 414
Shire counties 298 232 299 250 262
Shire districts 28 34 51 36 38 38