§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many empty buildings her Department currently owns; what is the cost of insuring and securing these buildings; how many were designed as residential properties; and what was the total amount spent by her Department on empty property taxes in each of the last five years. [14571]
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department for Education and Employment and the- Employment Service together currently own 26 freehold properties which are empty.
One property includes a hostel block for use by trainees and four terraced houses for the use of hostel supervisors.
Following general Government practice, the Department and the ES bear the cost of their own property insurance.
The Department and the ES together also hold 135 leasehold properties which are empty. None is designed for residential use.
In many leaseholds buildings, the landlord insures the building and recovers the cost through the overall service charge; it is not possible to disaggregate this charge without disproportionate time and cost.
The cost of security for empty buildings is also included in maintenance costs and it is therefore not possible to identify the separate total for security costs.
The Department's contribution in lieu of rates on vacant properties for the current year ending March 1996 will be £170,900. The ES's CILOR on vacant properties in the year ended 31 March 1995 was £680,000. CILOR 735W figures for previous years are included in overall running cost figures and cannot be separated out without disproportionate costs.