Departmental Property (Hansard, 30 January 1996)

§ Mr. Malcolm Bruce
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his estimate of the annual cost to his Department and his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies of their empty and under-utilised properties for(a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95, (f) 1995–96 and (g) 1996–97.[11499]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
The Lord Chancellor's Department does not keep comprehensive financial records for empty or under-used properties on the departmental estate and the information required could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, or is not available. The chief executives for each of the Department's agencies will be responding separately.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to the above Question about the cost to the Court Service of empty or under used property. The Court Service does not keep comprehensive financial records for empty or under used properties on the Departmental Estate and the information required could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Letter from Julia C. Lomas to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary Question, listed on 19 January 1996, regarding the estimated cost of empty and under utilised buildings for the years 1979–80, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1995–96 and 1996–97. The Public Trust Office does not have any empty or under-utilised buildings.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question on estimates of the costs of empty and under-utilised properties. I understand that the Property Holding Division of the Department of the Environment will provide central figures for Common User Estate vacant space from 1990/91 to date. Figures prior to then are held by the Property Services Agency who, I am informed, could only access this information at disproportionate cost. As to Land Registry accommodation that is not Common User Estate, I can provide the following estimates of costs of empty property for the years quoted:

(a) 1979–80: Nil

(b) 1989–90: Nil

(c) 1991–92: £15,200

(d) 1993–94: £244,360

(e) 1994–95: £240,099

(f) 1995–96: £379,728

(g) 1996–97: £397,931

The 1996–97 estimate represents the maximum potential costs over the full twelve month period. The properties are being actively marketed and the actual annual costs are likely to be lower. Surplus accommodation has arisen in the Land Registry following reductions in its staff of some 3400 from the 1989–90 peak. The Land Registry does not maintain any central records of the costs of under-utilised properties and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question about the cost of empty and under-utilised properties in the agencies for which he is responsible. The properties of the Public Record Office form part of the Common User Estate. Since 1979, none has been empty or under-utilised.

§ Mr. Bruce
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his estimate of departmental expenditure on administration for(a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95, (f) 1995–96 and (g) 1996–97. [11502]

§ Mr. Evans
Details of my Department's running costs and administrative spending for the year 1979–80 are contained in table 3.9 of the "Government's Expenditure Plans 1985–86 to 1987–88", volume II (Cm 9428-II); figures for the years 1989–90 to 1997–98 are contained in table 4 of my Department's annual report published in March 1995 (Cm 2809). Copies of these documents are available in the Members' Library.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply in respect of the Court Service to your Question about estimated annual expenditure on administration. The estimated annual figures for expenditure on administration for the Court Service from 3 April 1995, the date on which the Court Service was established, are:

1995–1996: £32,307,000

1996–1997: £31,600,000

Letter from Julia C. Lomas to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary Question, listed on 19 January 1996, regarding the estimated expenditure on administration for the years 1979–80, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97. The Public Trust Office became and Agency on 1 July 1994 and the administration costs prior to that date can be found in the Lord Chancellor's Department's Departmental Report. The Annual Report for 1994–95 provides details of expenditure for that year, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library, however the figure for that year and the estimate for 1995–96 and 1996–97 are given below.

1994–95: £18.5 million

1995–96: £19.76 million (estimate)

1996–97: £19.48 million (estimate)

It is worth noting that the Public Trust Office is required to cover its cost by fee income.

§ Mr. Bruce
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is his estimate of the expenditure of his Department and his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies on all forms of overseas travel, overseas accommodation and other associated expenses for(a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95, (f) 1995–96 and (g) 1996–97. [11503]

§ Mr. Evans
Except for the Legal Aid Board—established on 1 April 1989—which incurred £4,215 of such expenditure in 1994–95, expenditure on overseas 641W travel and accommodation is not monitored separately in my Department and non-departmental public bodies and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We estimate that the maximum spent in any one year is no more than £35,000. Since this is an operational matter, I have asked the chief executives of the Court Service and Public Trust Office to reply direct for the years since they became agencies.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply in respect of the Court Service to your Question about estimated annual overseas travel and accommodation expenditure. The Court Service does not have a budget for overseas travel, accommodation and expenses. Consequently, the estimated expenditure for the financial year 1995–96 is nil and no allocation has been provided for the financial year 1996–97.
Letter from Julia C. Lomas to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to you as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department's response to your Parliamentary Question, listed on 19 January 1996, regarding the estimated expenditure for overseas travel for the years 1979–80, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96 and 1996–97. The Public Trust Office became an Agency on 1 July 1994, prior to which no separate figures are available for the cost of overseas travel, however, the estimated costs for 1994 onwards are as follows:

1994–95: No overseas travel

1995–96: £4,900

1996–97: £8,850

Letter from Dr. Elizabeth Hallam Smith to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: In the absence of the Chief Executive, who is away from the Office on official business, I have been asked by the Lord Chancellor's Parliamentary Secretary to reply for the Public Record Office to your question about expenditure on overseas travel, overseas accommodation and associated expenses in the executive agencies for which he is responsible. The Public Record Office does not keep separate figures for overseas travel, accommodation and associated expenses. It has found from its experience in calculating 1994–95 expenditure (which was £7,708) in response to an earlier Parliamentary Question (12 July 1995, Official Report, Column 600), that such figures could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 January 1996: I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, to reply to your recent question on expenditure on all forms of overseas travel, overseas accommodation and other associated expenses. I can provide the following information for the years quoted:

(a) 1979–80: Figures are not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost:

(b) 1989–90: Figures are not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost:

(c) 1991–92: Figures are not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost:

(d) 1993–94: £3780

(e) 1994–95: £8084

(f) 1995–96: £2550 (at 31.12.95)
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(g) 1996–97: Estimated expenditure figures for 1996–97 are not yet available. The annual non-staff budget setting process is currently taking place and the Land Registry Budget Committee has yet to decide the final budget allocation.